We'll Be Mutual Heroes
by whoosh19
Summary: To Neliel Tu Oderschvank, it was just being nice. To Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, it was just a healthy rivalry exposal. But when these two excuses collide, motives suddenly change. Grimmjow's job competitor, Nnoitra Jiruga, has something going on with Neliel. What's causing Neliel's odd behavior? Grimmjow has put it in his responsibility to find out. T for cursing.
1. Chapter 1

WOW! So I started this ol' one back in July 2011! It is not finished, but I have 21 chapters typed so far, the 21st one halfway done, and last edited in December 2011... in other words, I have been AWOL and I really have no excuse for it either lol, I just loved the story until I hated it. So five chapters. I will only post five chapters, unless someone likes it, of course. I don't like it and I wanna trash it; I mean I kinda do still harbor feelings for it (lmfao) but it was just a bad storyline to me and so I'm not gonna stress myself out and write more chapters and finish the series if no one likes it, you know? But then at the same time, I feel like I'm not giving it a chance to "be out there" lol, and plus I had it out on my profile for a while (that Grimmjow and Nel story I was apparently supposed to be "finishing up" lmao) and maybe someone was looking forward to it (yeah right... long shot!). Anyways, this is definitely not one of my best works, but nobody's perfect. The first person to review during my five waiver chapters has my love for the rest of their life (is that a good thing? haha) and the confidence that yes, I will be continuing and finishing the story. Love you guys. —whoosh19

P.S.: My cute email addresses that I coined up specifically for this story won't work! :/ no "at"s allowed, I guess. Oh well.

* * *

Welcome to the twisted world of Soul Society—at the University, we're all friends! Close friends. Keep reading for an entertaining and amusing story about professors in their twenties. What is reality?

* * *

**Chapter 1**

It all started with an e-mail.

**Flashback**

_"Hey, Kuchiki! Glad you could join us!" Tatsuki yelled, holding the door open wide._

_The third-year college students were celebrating Nel's birthday on the Sunday beginning their "Spring Break". Her birthday had passed last week, and Spring Break had been so far into the month of April that they had decided to celebrate it during the much-needed time off._

_Tatsuki, Nel's best friend, was hosting the little party at her beach house about forty-five minutes away from the University of Soul Society. It wasn't a lot of people which was just how Nel liked it._

_On the porch of the beach house stood Lisa Yadomaru, Hiyori Sarugaki, Orihime Inoue, Apache, Franceska "Mila" Rose, and Sun-Sun Cyan. Nanao Ise was talking to Nemu Kurotsuchi and the birthday woman in the living room of the small but spacious house._

_"You guys! Come out here! The sunset is AH-MAZING!" Hiyori yelled._

_All five girls in the house looked in the direction of the porch, and sure enough, there was a stunning sunset right in view._

_"Let's go on the beach," Orihime suggested. Everyone agreed and hobbled down the small steps to the sandy beach._

_"Ahhh! The sand is so warm," Apache gushed, spinning in the fine grains._

_Hiyori and Tatsuki had made it to the water first and they immediately started splashing each other with the warm saltwater._

_"Water fight!" Tatsuki yelled as Nanao and Orihime approached them, splashing the two girls with water._

_Soon everybody joined in until the sun finally disappeared under the horizon._

_"I'm hungry and soaked you guys. Let's order takeout," Rukia proposed._

_Twenty minutes later, the pizza had come and everybody was dry and full, but bored._

_"Let's play Truth or Dare," Hiyori schemed._

_"Ugh, that game is so overplayed," groaned Apache, picking at her nail._

_"No… we're gonna do things a little different."_

_Five minutes later the girls sat in front of a small laptop with Nel's school e-mail account open._

_"Guys, this is horrible!" Nel exclaimed._

_"Hey, _you_ picked dare, not me," Hiyori said, smirking._

_Nel sighed in defeat, slowly typing in Mr. Jaegerjaquez's e-mail address in the "To" box._

_So the dare was to "confess her lustful thoughts" of Mr. J._

_….As if she had any!_

_Okay, Nel had to admit, the guy had it good._

_The badass look on his face, the spiky blue hair, and probably what lay beneath those polo shirts he always wore were very… attractive._

_But it wasn't like she actually took time out of her day to fantasize about her Computing instructor!_

_Nevertheless, with Hiyori breathing down her back and the rest of the girls waiting with anticipation, Nel began to type._

**_Hey,_**

**_I just wanted to say what a sexy teacher you are ;) Legit every day I think of your rock-hard abs pressing against my chest_**

_Hiyori laughed and urged her to keep typing._

**_and running my hands through your striking blue hair. You're incredibly attractive; I don't even know how I control myself when I see you… it takes a whole lot of effort (; Gee, I wonder how your lips would feel against mine..? Haha._**

_"Don't end it there or you sound sarcastic! It's not meant to be that way!" Lisa told her._

_"Ugh, c'mon, this is bad as it is! What more do you want?!" Nel asked incredibly._

_"Just put… 'wish I could know' or something," Apache offered._

_"Fine." She erased "Haha"._

**_…wish I could know._**

**_—Nel ;)_**

_Nel stared at the e-mail, and reluctantly hit "send"._

_"Oh my God, Nel, you actually did it!" Lisa yelled._

_The girls then all cheered on the birthday woman for her courage and laughed with her before continuing on with the game._

_Neliel couldn't get that e-mail out of her head._

**End Flashback**

Three days later, on Wednesday, Nel couldn't help but to check her e-mail account like she had done probably each hour of the day since the dare. She didn't really think that he would respond too soon (because of the break) or even at all, but it didn't ease the green-haired woman's anxiety any bit. He could report her!

Well, he probably wouldn't. He wasn't a ratter-type. Plus, she was only seven years younger than him so it couldn't be considered anything related to minority charges because she was twenty-one. Maybe sexual harassment, but didn't guys like that stuff?

Nel pressed her "check mail" button again, and to her surprise (and maybe horror too), a jet black bolded **(1)** appeared beside the word "Inbox". When she loaded her inbox, she gasped, blushed, and squeaked in embarrassment.

**To:** Neliel Tu Oderschvank

**From:** Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez

**Subject:** RE: [No Subject]

**Well wasn't this was a freaking surprise. I thought you were into Kurosaki and shit, but hey, I guess not so much, huh. But I ain't complaining, it's always good to hear feedback from the ladies, right?**

**P.S. I do intend on taking you up on that little… wish… if you'll sign the long list of the rest of chicks who want to do the same.**

"I look like I'm into Kurosaki…? …Blah, blah, blah… sign a list… cocky bastard!" Nel screamed suddenly. Tatsuki came bounding out of her room in the dorm they shared and into Nel's.

"What is it?"

"_Jaegerjaquez_ actually replied."

Tatsuki's eyes went wide before she made Nel scoot over so they could share her chair.

"Ooh, seems like he's trying your life there…" Tatsuki said, whistling. "Into Kurosaki? Definitely."

Nel wanted to laugh at that, but the whole message was just making her mad.

"Two can play this game."

She pressed "reply" on the e-mail chain and began to type.

**To:** Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez

**From:** Neliel Tu Oderschvank

**Subject:** Re: RE: [No Subject]

**First of all, ****_sensei_****, this was a DARE. You really thought I'd go after you like that? Second of all, Kurosaki?! 'The hell you take me for?! Some kind of preppy chick?!**

**Feedback? What are you, a book needing reviews? You're the most cockiest instructor I've ever met, EVER. I'm not signing any "list" of whores either.**

**—Nel ;)**

Nel pressed "send", feeling much better.


	2. Chapter 2

**Alrightie! 2nd Chapter, sorry it's super short but apparently that's how I wrote it back in 2011 lmfao. It's really just a filler chapter, there's no good stuff in here lol. Next week will be better, I promisee!**  
**—whoosh19**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Nel sighed as she got into her Corolla, dropping her purse in the passenger seat.

"Okay, time to shop!" she sang, starting her car and pulling out of the parking lot. She would've enjoyed going to the Mall SS much more if maybe Tatsuki or Rukia were with her, but surprisingly everyone was busy this Thursday afternoon.

_Well, can't take everyone everywhere,_ she thought to herself.

Fifteen minutes later she arrived at the mall and parked in front of a Macy's.

"God, this store is so overrated," the busty woman complained, walking through the store to get to the real mall. Quickly she found Charlotte Russe and walked in. She was looking at formal shirts for her interview the next day when her phone vibrated.

"Ugh."

Nel dug into her purse, found the Droid, and pressed "View text".

It was from Hiyori.

**Uh-huh! Girl, I heard ur man emailed u back! Whad he say?**

Nel silently cursed Tatsuki's mouth to oblivion while pressing reply.

**Wut ? He aint my man ! and he wuz all like, oh sign my list of ladies who want meee i was like um hell to the no i am not a whore and omg he trieddd my lifee sayin i wuz into kurosaki i wantedd to bash his damnn face in !**

After sending, Nel began her search again and found a violet colored blouse before heading to the changing rooms.

She was only in her bra when her phone vibrated again.

**HAHAHA omg dats the funniest thing evar damn he really tried u lol but dere aint nutin wrong wit kurosaki! and he told u 2 sign his list of ladies? hahahaha omg how funny lmao do u think its tru?**

Nel scoffed.

**i nevr said anything wuz wrongg with him its juss that he's def NOT my type hes 2 much of a gentleman. i like them bad boys girrrl and u know itt haha. And do i think wut is tru ? His "list" ? Absolutely NOT! id be DAMNED if it was ! damn cocky idiotss .**

When she tried on the blouse, it looked very sophisticated, yet business-classy, so she settled for the $50 top. She was waiting in line for quite some time, giving Hiyori time to reply before Nel was checked out.

**wel u rite he is quite a gentlman and of course I kno u like badboys girl dats wat I'm sayin u kno u attracted 2 mr j at least half of dat dare msg was tru :P and haha I need 2 read the msg chain cus i wanna see exactly wat he said lmao**

The green-haired woman shook her head.

**i aint attracted to that bastardd omg if he thinks i am hes got sum'n else comin 4himm . remind me ill show u l8r**

Nel hoped she would forget, but there's only so much people could hope for.

Back at home, Nel hung her blouse up in her closet quickly before running to her laptop to check her e-mail account.

Honestly, she didn't know why she bothered so much at this point, but suspense (for what?) was killing her.

She logged in swiftly and took a look at her inbox, which had one unread message from Mr. Jaegerjaquez.

**To:** Neliel Tu Oderschvank

**From:** Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez

**Subject:** Re: Re: RE: [No Subject]

**Guess what? I was planning to let it off as a hack instead of a dare, if my boss questioned me or if you were taken to the officials or some shit. Let's just say that WE know the truth, huh? And hey! Who told you I was cocky? I find that very impolite of you. Maybe I'll ditch the offer after all!**

Ooh. If Nel was angry before, she was livid now.

**To:** Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez

**From:** Neliel Tu Oderschvank

**Subject:** Re: Re: Re: RE: [No Subject]

**Oh my God. You need to get something through that thick skull of yours, mister. I DON'T LIKE YOU. AT ALL. Consider your shitty "offer" not even deliberated on. Like you HAVE a damn list, Jaegerjaquez. Nobody likes you like that. Can't believe I waste my time trying to teach the dense like you what reality looks like.**

Nel sighed after sending. Would all this ever stop?

She scolded herself for thinking about other things and not worrying about her job interview the next day.


	3. Chapter 3

Today was Tuesday.

Nel said that in her head as she sat up in her bed.

_Tuesday… oh no…_

Tuesday mornings were Mr. Jaegerjaquez's computing course.

"Argh!" she grumbled, slumping to the ground. Today was not going to go so well. She knew that because her and her instructor had gone through four more chains of e-mail messaging, and things weren't looking up.

**To:** Neliel Tu Oderschvank

**From:** Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez

**Subject:** Re: Re: Re: Re: RE: [No Subject]

**I don't have a list? You sound so sure of yourself, like you've been snooping through my damn stuff or something? You don't know shit about me, Nel. Reality? You're not even drinking age yet! And calling me dense, ****_you _****were the one who started all this shit. At least I have the fucking sanity to laugh this shit all off. Damn bitch.**

**To:** Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez

**From:** Neliel Tu Oderschvank

**Subject:** Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: RE: [No Subject]

**Excuse me? No, Jaegerjaquez, I don't touch your damn stuff and for your information I turned twenty-one last week. I started all this shit and ****_you_**** have sanity to laugh shit off?! No, you don't have any sanity at all; you have the stupidity to piss me off. Don't try to tell me I'm immature either; LOOK WHO RESPONDED to this shit. You're in no position to nag me about my age anyways since you're like, two years older. Asshole.**

**To:** Neliel Tu Oderschvank

**From:** Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez

**Subject:** Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: RE: [No Subject]

**Oh my God, last fucking week. You think that makes you grown up? And when did I ever say I'm old either? And what, you'd prefer me to report you instead of replying? FINE WITH ME. Damn.**

**To:** Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez

**From:** Neliel Tu Oderschvank

**Subject:** Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: RE: [No Subject]

**Okay, okay. I'm ****_sorry_**** for all this shit. Sorry for calling you an asshole and an idiot and dense. Just, don't report all this shit, damn, it was a ****_dare_****. I apologize for being a jerk and getting on your nerves.**

Nel had sent that one two days ago on Sunday night. He hadn't responded since, which made her worry like never before.

Neliel was on her own. Her parents were long gone since middle school, who knows where. She lived in different families' homes, shrugging it off as "sleepovers". No one, not even her friends' parents knew that the reason she was at her friends' houses so much was because there was nowhere else to go. Of course there were some days when friends were busy and she camped out in alleyways like it was nothing. And even when the foster homes came to see where she was, they eventually shook it off and assumed she disappeared along with her parents.

Anyways, Nel worked hard to get where she was. She got straight A's in high school and graduated with a 7.0 GPA, entitling her to many scholarships which were so much in excess, each one overpaid her school fees, earning her money for three years straight until it ran out, hence her interview on Thursday (which was successful).

And if Mr. Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez reported her, boom.

All that for nothing.

She wasn't even halfway through her business, math, and science courses!

Nel sighed as she got into her shower, trying to wash away all the anxiety. He wouldn't tell… right? She hoped to God she was right.

Nel and Tatsuki walked into the Yamako building of USS.

"Well, this is where we depart, girlfriend. Good luck with this whole thing you've got going on," Tatsuki told her best friend.

"Yeah, yeah… just… don't tell _anyone_, especially not Hiyori, okay?"

"I got you, girl, it's fine," she reassured the hazel-eyed woman.

"Okay… well see ya then," Nel managed to choke out as Tatsuki pressed the "up" button on the elevator.

"Bye."

Nel walked away from the elevators and down the path to her death.

501 C, the room of doom.

She stared hard at the engraved identification sign on the door, wishing she could disappear into thin air.

When it didn't work, she whimpered to herself and opened the door to her demise.

"Guys, remember the certification test for Microsoft Office is next Tuesday."

Mr. Jaegerjaquez closed his laptop, signaling the end of class.

Everybody closed their own and started to head out from the class.

Not Neliel.

Oh no, she was slumped in her seat with her laptop still on her lap, playing with the keypad and making circles with the cursor.

"Neliel, you know that's not good posture in a computing class," she heard her instructor call out when everyone was gone.

Nel kept staring at her screen with emotionless eyes.

"Who cares? I'm screwed anyways."

"How so?"

Nel stopped fidgeting with her laptop to look at Mr. Jaegerjaquez, who had made his way to her seat. She sat up immediately, closing her portable computer.

"_How so?_" she mocked. "I'm gonna lose my scholarship."

The green haired woman stood up with her laptop in one hand, reaching her instructor's shoulder height.

"… If this is about that e-mail–"

"What else would it be about, Jaegerjaquez?!" Nel screamed, slamming the laptop on the desk. "Oh my God, it was a joke that went too far; lighten up! This is the rest of my life on the line, and you just screwed me over! I can't believe–"

"Nel, I didn't report anything. God," Mr. Jaegerjaquez confirmed.

"You… _didn't?_"

Mr. Jaegerjaquez shook his head at Nel's expression.

"'The hell? Why would I report dumb shit like that?"

Neliel stared at her instructor for a long period of time before grabbing his shoulders and laughing.

"Oh my God, oh my God! I'm still okay! Oh my God! You don't know how scared shitless I was that you reported me and that I'd lose all I had, and everything, oh my God,–"

"Nel."

"–I thought I'd have to work at McDonald's the rest of my life–"

"_Nel._"

"–I don't though! I really don't! I can get a good paying job, get married, a-and raise kids–"

"_Nel!_"

Neliel stopped ranting to look at her instructor's slightly irritated expression.

"Can you, _please_, get your hands off me…?" he strived to say calmly.

Nel, having realized what she'd done, removed her hands from his shoulders instantly and onto her face in embarrassment.

"I'm… sorry about that."

"It's cool."

"Alright, I, uh, got to get going, Mr. J," she stammered, grabbing her laptop and pushing past her computing instructor so he wouldn't see her reddened face.

"Ah. Don't forget your certification test next Tuesday," he added.

"Kay."

"And Nel?"

She cursed the heavens for her blushing face as she turned around.

"Y-yeah?"

"… You need a longer vacation."

Mr. Jaegerjaquez smirked as Nel laughed awkwardly.

"Oh, sorry again, I'm just weird like that sometimes," she said, but her instructor was already turning to the other exit door.

"Bye Neliel," he said with a faint, nearly unnoticeable smile before opening the door.

"Y-yeah… see ya…" she whispered to no one.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Wooo, a bit late here, I'm trying to do every Saturday now but I cheated because it's 1:00 am Sunday morning. I'll try posting twice a week once I get into the habit of attempting to remember weekly, lol. Thanks for your patience, however, I really appreciate it :)) –whoosh19**

* * *

"Welcome to Starbucks! How May I help you?" Nel greeted the customer that walked in the door.

"Oh, I'll just take a regular-sized coffee, no sugar, no milk, nothing."

"$4.27. Your order will be with you shortly."

Nel waited as the customer slid his card through the PIN machine.

"Thank you," the man said. Nel smiled at him, and then turned around to check the clock.

1:26 pm Wednesday afternoon.

_Almost_ lunch break.

Nel had applied at Starbucks and because they were by no means short of applicants, each had a very intense interview. She was lucky they picked her, although she found herself shaking it off as her breasts getting the job for her. Work was on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. She had a very simple pay, but enough to keep her going until she could receive her degrees for a real job.

The time was now 1:28, and Nel stood at the register impatiently until two surprising people walked in the door. She gasped.

"Dondochakka? Pesche? Is that you, guys?! What are you guys doing here?!" she asked, smiling widely.

Immediately the two ran up to the register, their eyes filled with enthusiasm.

"Well, we were just in town and decided to stop by… but first we asked Hiyori where you were... oh and–"

"Neliel! You still have a minute before your break!" her manager screamed.

"You guys wait a second over there," Nel whispered, pointing to an empty table in the corner.

The turquoise-haired woman checked out one other person before taking her twenty minute break.

"Oh my God! I can't believe you guys even found me!" Nel exclaimed, sitting down with the two boys, taking out her packed lunch. "You've grown so much!"

Dondochakka Birrstane and Pesche Guatiche were Neliel's long lost god brothers, whom she hadn't seen since fifth grade.

"We could say the same thing about you, Nellie," Pesche teased.

"Oh God, you still want to call me that?!" Nel joked as the two laughed.

"So how are 'Mom and Dad'?" Dondochakka asked, innocently—wasn't it polite to ask such things?

"Oh… about that…" she started.

"What?" Dondochakka asked.

Neliel stayed silent.

"Nel…? What?" Pesche urged.

"I… haven't seen them for… eight years."

Both men gasped.

"What?! Where are they?!" he shouted.

"…I don't know, Pesche, I really don't know… they just… _left_ one day, without a word. Foster Care assumed I disappeared with them, when I was really going from friends' house to friends' house on my own. Not an easy life, at all."

The two stepbrothers gaped at the woman as a new feeling ripped inside them.

Nobody was a kid anymore.

Everyone was past the days of wearing cute ribbons and little light-up Velcro shoes.

Nel looked down into her cup of iced tea, disliking their foreign stares.

"I'm sorry–"

"No… no it's fine…" she started to say as tears filled her eyes.

"I–I gotta go… my break is over."

She bolted from the seat, not wanting to let them see her weak side.

"Nel–!"

"Talk to you guys later, eh? It was… good to see you guys again."

With that, Nel ran inside the Women's room and locked herself in a stall.

She wanted so badly to just cry everything out, but her break, even though she lied to her god brothers, was pretty much over.

So she saved it all to 5:00 pm.

"I'm leaving, Miss Mayumi," Nel called out to her boss.

"Yeah. See you tomorrow, right?" she yelled back.

"Yes ma'am. Bye."

"Have a nice evening, sweetie," Miss Mayumi answered.

Nel walked out into the overcast surroundings, a little drizzle forming.

_It's so gonna pour…_

The woman entered her car, starting it up just as the earlier drizzle turned into a slight shower.

With a sigh she backed out of the coffee restaurant's parking lot and turned onto the main street. Immediately thoughts began to cloud her mind as she drove on, passing a couple intersections.

_"So where is 'Mom and Dad'?"_

Nel slammed on her brakes, almost running a red light.

_It's too rainy to be doing this!_

Neliel tried to focus; she turned on the radio to try and tune out her thoughts, but she had realized long ago that when her mind was on her parents, it was difficult to tame.

Not to add the static of the station since the rain had picked up to a downpour.

_Why in hell would they leave me?_

With a soft weep, the green-haired woman took the next right swiftly, pulling into a gas station to calm down. She parked in a spot to the side of the car wash and got out, immediately getting pelted by the rain. Nel closed her car door and leaned over her car while putting her head on her folded hands.

_I hate them…_

She began to cry softly, her tears mixing with the rain.

_I hate them both._

"Neliel?"

The voice was clearly a male, probably not much older than her. She looked up and saw a head of orange hair two parking spots away.

"D-Dr. Kurosaki?"

"What are you doing in the rain? You'll catch a cold!" the young Math instructor snapped.

"I-I… my… um…" Nel racked her brain of excuses.

"Why are you not in your car anyways?" He strolled over to the passenger side of Nel's car, opposite of her.

"Um… I'm out of gas…?" she tried.

"You're… out of gas? Then go fill your tank… we're at 7 Eleven," he slowly reasoned.

"Yeah, I know! I just, uh, left my card at home, and I was kinda… letting out my frustration…?" she rambled, flipping her drenched hair out of her face.

"Do you want to borrow some money? I'm pretty sure I have a fifty somewhere…" he mumbled, searching his pockets in the rain.

"No, no. I'm okay, I swear. I'll just, um, call Tatsuki to pick me up," she reassured him.

"Well why don't I just drive you home then?" he asked.

"It's okay; she shouldn't be too far from here–"

"Let me drive you home. Grab your keys and stuff. Then tomorrow you can come back out here and buy gas for your car because it's kinda late and rainy now," the young man told her, his clothes soaked.

"Oh… well, thank you…" Nel murmured, unsure of what to say in that situation. Dr. Kurosaki smiled in return.

"No problem."

He waited patiently for Nel to get her belongings out of her car and lock the doors. The green-haired woman followed Dr. Kurosaki two parking spots down to his BMW where he opened the passenger door for her and then walked around to the driver's side. Neliel got into the car and shut the door calmly, glad to be out of the rain. Dr. Kurosaki had plastic bag covers on his seats, which Nel was thankful for, since she'd probably feel guilty if she was wrecking his seat material while getting a ride from him.

The orange-haired man started his car and immediately turned the heat on.

"I swear, you are going to catch pneumonia or something. You should've just stayed in your car," Dr. Kurosaki complained, driving out of 7-Eleven.

"Well sorry! I was just really mad," she defended with a smile.

"Really mad my ass," he murmured. "You don't see other people standing in the freezing rain to let out their anger. Doesn't that just get you madder?"

Nel thought about this for a while.

"I _guess_. But I actually _like_ the rain," she explained.

"That is something I never understood. Who the hell likes rain? It's so… repulsive!" He shook his head in mock disgust.

"'The hell you talking about?! Rain soothes the mind, Dr. Kurosaki. The sound of the droplets is supposed to make you relax," Nel told him.

"Yeah, yeah," he started. "It still sucks. Anyways, where were you coming from?" he asked.

"Oh, I got a job at that Starbucks down there, nothing big," Nel responded.

The rest of the ride was silent, until Nel gave Dr. Kurosaki specific directions to her dorm. When she got there, the rain hadn't lessened up much.

"Thanks, Dr. Kurosaki. I really appreciate it."

"No problem. Don't turn your AC on otherwise, I swear to God," he started to say. She laughed.

"Yeah, whatever. Thank you again," she repeated, opening the passenger door.

"You're welcome. Take care," he said.

"Bye," she replied, closing the door and walking up the drenched pathway to the girl dorms. She could hear the roar of his car as it backed out of the spot it was in and disappeared into the cold and opaque evening.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Okayy, another (late) chapter! I'm so sorry I'm slacking, I need to do a better job D: Also I'm totally working on posting twice a week, just means that I have to finish the story faster than I expected. I can do it, though (I hope!). By next week I should have it together. -whoosh19

* * *

Before Nel even reached the doorknob to her room, Tatsuki had opened the door with a look of mischief on her face.

"Neliel!" she sang. "Care to explain what I just saw?!" She wagged her eyebrows suggestively.

"Care to let me in first?" Nel shot almost angrily, water dripping dramatically from her clothes.

Tatsuki gave a guilty laugh.

"Hehe… sorry."

She opened the door wider and stepped out of the way for Nel to walk in. The green-haired woman strutted immediately into the bathroom.

After a warm shower lasting ten minutes, Nel got out, dried herself down and threw on her undergarments and a robe. Tatsuki was ready to confront her in the living room, a special guest by her side.

Lisa Yadomaru fumbled with her glasses before putting them on and smirking at Nel.

"Sorry, had to make sure my glasses weren't cracked when I saw you exit Dr. Kurosaki's car," she taunted.

"Oh you little–! Lisa-a! It wasn't like that!"

"Oh really? Prove it."

Nel gave a dirty glare to the raven-haired woman before plopping in a loveseat.

"So, after work, I wasn't feeling well," she started. "It's pouring sheets of rain, so I couldn't see anyways." She picked at some lint on her robe. "I parked at the gas station and stood outside and got drenched. Kurosaki was coincidentally there, and he gave me a ride home because you would've taken days to get there, _Tatsuki_," Nel accused. The black haired woman put a look of innocence and shock on her face.

"Nel! I can't believe you'd say I wouldn't rush for my best friend!" Tatsuki argued with a smile.

"Ohhh–! Cut that shit out, girl!"

"So what happened after that?" Lisa asked, ignoring the bickering.

"What do you mean "what happened after that"? He dropped me off here," Nel explained.

"Yeah, after he banged her 'til she couldn't sit down," Tatsuki whispered to Lisa loud enough for the busty woman to hear. Lisa guffawed.

"Hey! What the hell?! I'm not a whore!"

"Hah, oh Tatsuki that cracked me up. Maybe that's why she ran into the shower… she didn't wanna smell like man!"

Both girls cackled on the couch, gasping for air as Nel became more and more frustrated.

"You guys are freaking unbelievable! I would _never_ fuck Kurosaki, _ever_, whether in this lifetime or the next!"

"Calm down, girl, me and Lisa 'just messing with ya. Honestly, Hiyori would kill you if you did. It's like she has a little girly crush on her teacher–!"

The girls started to snicker again, as Nel just shook her head at the two, smiling.

"You guys have problems."

Nel sat in Dr. Kurosaki's class, feeling very sick.

Yesterday's day at work was one of her worst. The orange-haired man was right; she had caught a cold. When she went to work yesterday (riding the transit bus to 7-Eleven to pick up her car, of course), she felt exhausted after just an hour. Her manager let her leave after her lunch break. She had gotten home, took a hot bath, and studied a little for Mr. Jaegerjaquez's certification test. She remembered going to bed extremely early, yet finding it quite difficult getting up for Dr. Kurosaki's class earlier that morning. She was fatigued, stuffy, and had a horrible migraine, but she couldn't afford to miss a class otherwise she'd fall behind.

"Assignments are due in two weeks. Please, do not forget. Can we open to page 164?"

Murmurs and the sound of rustling paper erupted in the class, and Nel coughed, trying to breathe normally. Tatsuki turned to her.

"Neliel, you're like, dying. I told you I'd give you the stuff in the lesson when we get with the girls tomorrow. Go to bed!" she scolded.

"I cah-n't! I'll fa-hll behind!" she argued softly, brushing a hand through her hair.

Tatsuki clicked her tongue in annoyance and turned back around to face the front of the class.

"So, class, please understand that the "x" factorial is going to be "y's" exponent. You can't have "z" as the denominator in "14/z" so get rid of that first before solving for "y"."

As Dr. Kurosaki droned on, Nel drifted off to sleep.

"Neliel, are you okay?"

Nel's eyes flew open, and she realized it was just her and her instructor in the classroom. The board was clean of math, which made her worry how long she stayed asleep.

"Y-yah, Ih'm fihne," she coughed.

"Hah, no you're not! I told you not to turn your AC on or you'd get sick!"

"Dr. Kurosahki, Ih'm okhay. Mhy nose is juhst stuff'd a bit."

The orange-haired man raked a hand through his hair, frustrated.

"You need to stay in bed, and I'm not joking. Seriously. Do you have a class later on today?" he asked.

"Yah, Prohfessor Hisagi's," she told him.

"Skip it. I'll talk to him later this afternoon, alright? You're not going to get any better by walking around, I promise you."

He helped her up and gathered her books for her, plopping them in her hands.

"Thanks."

"Uh-huh. Now seriously go to bed so that you don't end up missing more classes than needed," he said to her. She nodded.

"Thanks, Dr. Kurosahki. I'll tahlk to yah later."

"Ah."

Nel walked out of his classroom and was at the end of the hallway before she almost fainted of fear.

Tatsuki stood at the end of the hallway around the corner.

"Tahtsuki!"

The black-haired woman grabbed Nel's hand full force, pulling her all the way back to the dorm, muttering things under her breath.

Back in their room, Lisa stood at the side of Nel's bed, shaking her head as Tatsuki took her temperature.

"I would be making fun of you and Kurosaki if you weren't so sick, Nel," Lisa told her.

"Whell. I ghess that means I should ghet sick mohre oftern," she whispered.

"Shh," Tatsuki hushed. "101.5. Home-girl, you ain't going nowhere today. Get some sleep like your secret lover told you."

Nel was about to respond, when Lisa spoke instead.

"Honestly, all this shit over Kurosaki. I could've sworn like, two days ago she was on Jaegerjaquez's dick."

Tatsuki scoffed.

"Lisa, can you be so dense? She's on both!"

The two jokers laughed at the bed-ridden woman, who was not in the least pleased with her position.

"Hush," she managed to say.

"Okay, okay. We won't talk ill of the… ill," Tatsuki taunted. Lisa high-fived her.

"That was so cheesy it made me smile. Alright, we're going out to buy you some Ginger-Ale, chicken noodle soup, all that good healthy stuff. Deuces, and stay in bed."

With Lisa's last words, her and Tatsuki exited Nel's room.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hey, I'm super-late again, sorry! I'm sooo doing double chapters now, I'm listening to you guys because this story wasn't even gonna make it on here without at least one fan. Thank you so much, and your requests have been considered and granted haha. -whoosh19

* * *

"Hey, Hisagi."

"What up, Kurosaki," Shuhei Hisagi replied.

"Nothing much, you?"

"Same."

"Hey."

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez walked into the Staff Room of the Yamako building.

"Hey, Mister J," Shuhei answered.

"Kurosaki," Grimmjow greeted formally.

"How are you doing, J?" Ichigo asked.

"Fine, how about you?"

"Same."

Grimmjow walked to the back of the staff room and got a Cola out of the vending machine. The room was silent between the three men for about five minutes before Ichigo started talking.

"Neliel Tu Oderschvank will not be attending your evening class today, Hisagi."

Hisagi raised his eyebrows.

"Nel? She's always in attendance. What's wrong?"

Grimmjow listened intently, sipping from his cold drink.

"Two days ago I saw her at the 7-Eleven ten minutes away from here. She was leaning over her car in the _pouring rain_. As in she was just standing in that storm."

"'The hell?"

"That's what I said. I asked her what she was doing, and she said she was out of gas! I wanted to laugh out of spite; we were at a 7-Eleven! I asked her why she wasn't buying gas and she said she had no cash on her and because of that she was trying to let out her frustration in the rain. It was then I knew she was lying to me. No one just stands in a category 1 hurricane unless there's an emotional problem; you know that best, Professor Hisagi of Psychology."

Shuhei scoffed.

"Shut up. So she's at a gas station, she's out of gas… can't she call someone?"

"That's what I'm getting at. So I put out of my mind how she was lying; it wasn't my business either way. So then when I offered her some money, she said she was going to call her friend Tatsuki Arisawa to pick her up instead. Then I said it was getting late so I'd give her a ride home and she agreed to pick her car up from the 7-Eleven the next day. The girl was soaked to the damn bone and I _told_ her not to turn her A/C on when she got home."

Shuhei laughed at Nel's misfortune.

"So she's sick."

"Ah."

"… what the fuck?"

Both Ichigo and Shuhei turned to Grimmjow, who was standing there in complete and utter disbelief.

"She… stood in the fucking rain at a 7-Eleven?!"

Grimmjow's words lingered in the air before his coworker coughed.

"This girl's the stupidest person on the face of the earth," the blue haired man muttered.

"What makes you say that?" Shuhei asked him.

Grimmjow had a feeling he shouldn't put Nel on blast, so he found a way around it.

"Let's just say sometimes the girl can joke around a lot. Whatever. But when it starts to threaten school-related things, she's eccentric. Like, she's careful to tip-toe around her academics; it's a high privilege to her or something."

"Um, what?" Ichigo asked, confused.

"To me, it really seems like she never planned on getting this far in life. Is that what you're sayin', J?" Shuhei asked.

"Exactly my point. I mean, college students are more serious than like, high school students or whatever, but they mess around to. This girl knows her limits, and it's like when she crosses them by mistake, she goes insane," Grimmjow hypothesized.

"It's obvious something's going on in her personal life…" Ichigo concluded.

"It ain't like we can get background info or whatever. She's _twenty-one_." Grimmjow mocked her voice at the end of his input.

Shuhei snickered.

"What, did she like, rub that in or something?"

"Heh, kinda."

The three men stayed silent before Shuhei scoffed again.

"Nel picked the worst time to accidentally get sick."

"She's missing out on vital info in her classes, especially with finals around the corner," the orange-haired man added.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen."

The men turned to see Mr. Ulquiorra Cifer, Technician supervisor of USS, walk into the room. The room got extremely quiet.

See, Ulquiorra had authority.

A lot of it.

He was also Grimmjow's boss.

"G-good afternoon to you too, Mr. Cifer. How's your day?" Ichigo spoke up.

"It's been okay so far. You?" Ulquiorra opened the fridge and retrieved his salad.

"It's pretty good."

"I heard you talking about Neliel Tu Oderschvank." He poured ranch dressing on the salad.

The three men tensed; how much did he hear?

"I'm sorry to hear she's so sick. Must have been from that nasty storm."

The men sighed in relief; he hadn't heard the story. Probably would've sounded stalker-ish. But this was The University of Soul Society. Probably wouldn't have made much of a difference if he'd heard.

"Well, I hope she gets better. Um, Mr. Jaegerjaquez, how is that certification filing going?"

Grimmjow cleared his throat.

"It's good so far, sir. Most people in my classes have paid already for the exam."

Ulquiorra sighed in relief.

"Thank God. Mr. Jiruga's classes are not going as smoothly. A majority of his students have scheduled to take the exam but haven't paid. And a quarter of the percent that have paid have done it partially." The pale man grabbed himself a cup of water and shook his head. "Honestly, I don't know what to do with that man."

Nnoitra Jiruga was the other technology instructor. He was Grimmjow's rival and Neliel's instructor from last year. Grimmjow didn't know that, but he knew that there was something between those two. The way he looked at her in the hallways, that hideous-looking sneer plastered on his face while hers contorted into something akin to dread and fear.

Ulquiorra took a drink of water and sighed.

"Well, I'll be on my way. Take care, gentlemen."

The three men said their goodbyes to Ulquiorra. When he was out of hearing range, Grimmjow's straight face turned into a smirk.

"That's right; _I_ come out on top."

Ichigo shook his head with a smile and Shuhei laughed.

"You don't like Jiruga?"

"Hell no! He's the dumbest college instructor I've ever seen. If I had had someone like him in my two years of college I would either be dead or in jail for murder." Grimmjow finished off his Cola and threw the can away.

"To see Cifer like that; all talkative and shit, there's a lot of stress on his shoulders. Thanks to that idiot. Well I hope it gets me a raise." Grimmjow wagged his eyebrows as the two other men shook their heads at him.

"Keep hopin' bro," Shuhei told him. "I gotta bounce."

"Ah. We'll talk later, Hisagi," Ichigo said.

"Yeah. I should be going too. I've got… filing to do." The blue-haired man smirked.

"Oh shut up J. Go do your damn work," Hisagi responded.

The men laughed as they left the Staff Room.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: This one is really short! I'm glad I'm posting twice. Enjoy :)) -whoosh19

* * *

_"Good evening, Neliel."_

_"… What do you want?"_

_It was a more of a statement._

_He chuckled._

_"What's wrong with greeting a friend on a cold night?"_

_"That's exactly my point. _Nothing's_ wrong."_

_"You expect me to do something wrong? Fine."_

_He started to pull something out of his coat pocket._

_"NO! Stop it, I'm sorry!" Nel screamed._

_The man laughed again._

_"Oh, you humor me so much, Neliel," he whispered, grabbing her arm and pulling her into the nearest alley._

_"Mr. Jiruga!"_

Neliel sat up immediately, wiping the cold sweat off her forehead. She had had this dream twice in a row, and she felt like an insomniac.

"Hey, girl. Are you feeling better?"

Tatsuki walked into Nel's room with a plate of spaghetti and a bottle of Ginger-Ale in her hands. When she noticed the green-haired woman breathing heavily, she sighed.

"A nightmare? Again? What was it?"

"It doesn't matter, does it?" Nel whispered, looking away.

Tatsuki rolled her eyes.

"One day I'm gonna make you open up and you're gonna tell me all the secrets you've kept from me. Of course, it'll take a couple of months, since you hide literally everything from me."

Nel laughed humorlessly.

"Good luck."

Tatsuki handed Nel her food slowly.

"What time is it?" the bed-ridden woman asked.

"It's 3:15 on Saturday. I hope you had no plans."

"I'm supposed to be studying for that certification test in Jaegerjaquez's class today so bring me my laptop please," she said to Tatsuki.

"Sure thing. Anything else?"

Nel shook her head.

"Kay, I'll be right back."

When Tatsuki left, Nel sighed. This dreaming thing was getting out of hand.

Mila Rose, Apache, and Sun-Sun were the last to turn in their assignments to their instructor, Ms. Halibel Tia.

"Have a wonderful afternoon, ladies," she told them as they walked to the door.

"You too, Ms. Tia," the three girls chorused. As they opened the door and stepped outside, someone else walked in.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Jaegerjaquez," Ms. Tia greeted.

Grimmjow scoffed.

"'Sup, Halibel."

"What can I do for you?"

The two stared at each other for a couple of seconds before Grimmjow began.

"Answer this. What's up with Jiruga?" he asked.

Halibel blinked.

"Excuse me?"

Grimmjow walked over to Halibel's desk, slamming his hands on it.

"You _heard_ me."

"Correctly? I don't think so."

Grimmjow's attempt to intimidate Halibel definitely didn't succeed. The woman stood up to her full height, three inches under the blue-haired man. In frustration, he breathed out through his nose, lifting his hands off the desk to try to reclaim his right as the tallest.

"I'll ask again. _What is up with Jiruga?!_" he growled.

Halibel stayed calm and cold.

"I fail to understand the point of this question." She twirled a lock of her blonde hair in her left hand.

"Fine. Yesterday afternoon in the Staff Room, Cifer came in and he was all like, 'Oh damn, my life sucks 'cause Jiruga didn't file his shit.' So I started thinking about other times when–"

Grimmjow stopped to re-word what he was about to say.

"–when like, he's pissed people off and shit."

Halibel started hard at Grimmjow.

"I'm gonna take a wild guess that this conversation has something to do with Neliel Oderschvank."

"… So what if it does?"

Grimmjow was not surprised in the least that Halibel picked up on his subject; he was actually begging for her to take his terrible hints. But he was surprised that she decided to tell him any info at all on Nnoitra.

"Nnoitra has history with Neliel. It's really not my place to tell you what that history is, since it's very personal to them both. I will tell you this though: Whatever happened between them two scarred Neliel. _Majorly_. So if this is something you really want to find out about, remember it's a pretty touchy subject."

Halibel smoothed her skirt down as she sat in her executive chair.

"Anything else I can help you with?"

Grimmjow smirked.

"None at all, Tia."

Halibel dropped her voice.

"You didn't hear _shit_ from me."

"What shit are you talking about?" he said smoothly. "I never knew a lady like you swears."

"Well, you learned a lot today. 'Door's over there."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?"

Halibel smirked as she stacked papers on her desk.

"Good-bye, Mr. Jaegerjaquez."

Grimmjow shook his head as he exited Halibel's room.

"Aiight."


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Maybe I should just make the upload time to be Monday afternoon/Tuesday morning. Because the weekend apparently is not working well for me. I'll decide by Saturday. Here's the next two chapters! -whoosh19

* * *

All of Nel's best friends sat in her room that evening for their weekly study sessions Saturday evening. It was usually hosted in Rukia's house, because, you know, her older brother (the Dean of the university!) was pretty rich and owned a nice home. But because Nel was sick, everyone crammed into the small room, laptops on laps.

"Kay, so… Prof. Hitsugaya went over pages 56 to 60. I hope you guys understood it," Orihime said to Nemu and Lisa, who both took Physics with him.

"Yeah, yeah, it was all boring shit," Lisa complained.

"And Nemu? How about you?"

"I understood, thank you."

"Next teacher. Dr. Kurosaki," Hiyori called.

"What was all that 'x and y' shit about on Friday? I didn't get a single word!" Tatsuki yelled.

"Haha. Here, lemme show you."

As Hiyori was helping Tatsuki with her math, there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it," Rukia offered, climbing over people's knees. When she reached the door and opened it, a familiar, yet surprising face greeted her.

"Hanataro…?"

"Hey, um Miss Kuchiki! Is Neliel around?" he asked softly.

"Yeah but… she's kinda… she's sick. Is there anything I can do for you?" she suggested.

"Yeah! Just, um, give her this letter. I–uh, it's… urgent."

Hanataro gave Rukia a white envelope addressed to Nel.

"I will take my leave right now. Have a wonderful evening, Miss Kuchiki!" he said brightly, bowing swiftly before taking off.

Rukia stood bewildered in the doorway.

"… Nel! … You have mail!" she shouted confusedly.

"So bring it in here!" Nel hoarsely responded.

Rukia locked the door behind her and went back into Nel's room.

"Here. Hanataro dropped it off."

Hanataro was a delivery-man in training. He worked overtime for USS, so usually he was very tired and fatigued during hours. Rukia felt sorry for the guy. She even talked to her brother on his behalf! But it was no use; that's just how the training was, apparently.

"Sheesh, what a lousy job," she muttered to herself.

"What was that?" Nel asked.

"Nothing. Who's the letter from?"

"It may be from Jaegerjaquez–" she started.

"Uh-huh! I _knew_ you were keeping something from us!" Tatsuki yelled.

"Spill the deets. _NOW_." Hiyori glared at Neliel.

"Guys, chill. My certification test is three days away, it's just a notice, probably," she finished.

"Well you never know until you open it!" Lisa scolded.

Nel unfolded the letter that was previously inside the envelope.

_Neliel,_

_Dr. Kurosaki has informed me that you are not feeling very well. I am very sorry to hear that. However, it is expedient for us to schedule a conference as soon as possible regarding general information. You are by no means 'in trouble,' and none of your academics are jeopardized at this moment, and I say this so that you do not misunderstand the meaning of this message. On Sunday, I am completely free, and you can come in if you'd like during class hours. Otherwise please e-mail me to schedule a better time for this._

_Feel better,_

_Professor Hisagi of Psychology_

Nel just stared hard at the black ink on the paper.

"So?! What's it about?!" Hiyori called.

"It's… about some kind of conference… with Professor Hisagi," she drawled.

"What?! _Three_ dicks now?!" Lisa yelled, earning a laugh from Tatsuki. Nel shot them both a look.

"_Anyways_, it says my academics aren't jeopardized so at least that's good. But I don't have a clue as to what this is all about," Nel pondered.

"Well, tomorrow you'll find out," Tatsuki said.

"Yeah."

And that's exactly what happened.

Professor Hisagi sighed.

_You're doing this for your fellow coworkers,_ he tried, attempting to reassure himself.

Grimmjow had told him that behind all of this unexpected sickness crap was a family problem. And if Grimmjow had a family problem, the first person he'd go to was a therapist. Hisagi was the closest to that. So he had the young professor write an urgent-marked letter to Neliel telling her to come by his office for a surprise conference.

"Don't you care about your students' well-being, Hisagi?" he had sneered.

There was a knock on the door, and in walked Neliel.

"Professor…?" she lightly questioned.

Professor Hisagi looked up from his desk to meet her gaze.

"Ah, Neliel. Good morning. Come have a seat."

Nel cautiously moved towards his desk, sliding into a chair in front of it. After a few awkward moments, Professor Hisagi cleared his throat.

"So… I'm sorry if I scared you with this letter in any way, shape, or form," he started.

"Oh no! Not at all! I'm just, uh, very curious as to what it was for," she responded, cleverly finding a way to pick up the conversation's pace.

"Yes, well… I've become a bit… concerned… about your… conduct…" He cleared his throat again.

"My… conduct…? Have I done anything wrong?" she asked.

"No! Not at all, Neliel. I didn't really mean conduct as behavior versus misbehavior, more like… activities," he re-worded.

"… I don't understand."

"… Is everything alright with you? Like, academically and even out of academics?"

"Professor, what is going on?" Nel demanded.

"Well, you see…" He massaged his temples as he mentally cursed at Mr. Jaegerjaquez. "I'm just a bit worried about you yourself, Neliel. You _take_ this course. You _know_ what emotional stress is capable of, you _know_ what happens when anger isn't vented the right way, you know all of this. I just have this horrible feeling I can't shake off that something isn't sitting well with you. Please; I'm not even asking you to tell me what it is, but just answer this question: Is there something else going on?"

Neliel blinked blindly at the black-haired professor in awe. She hadn't seen something like that coming!

"… I guess you can say that."

"Is this something you're okay with sharing?"

"… Not really."

Professor Hisagi sighed.

"Then, Neliel, promise me you'll take better care of yourself, okay? I really don't want you getting sick like this. What if it kills you?! Then how would I be able to deal with Minaki?"

Nel smiled.

"Professor, I'm fine. I promise. But uh, why did all of this suddenly come out today?" she asked.

"… Well… um… you know, Dr. Kurosaki and I are good friends."

Neliel nodded.

"He told me what happened, and we both figured something was up. It's really not in our place to ask you questions like these, but I found myself overly concerned. You're a wonderful student, Neliel. I don't want to lose that in you," he told her.

"Trust me, I'm perfectly okay. All that… _occurred_ was in the past, so I don't like bringing it up often; don't take it personal."

Professor Hisagi laughed.

"Take it personal? I'm a psychologist! I deal with things like this all the time," he said, smiling.

Nel laughed.

"Well, I kinda have to go." She stood up. "Thanks for… thanks just because." She gave a polite smile to him.

"Alright. I will see you next week. I hope you're all caught up," he said.

"Don't you worry, Professor. Aren't I your best student?" she teased.

He laughed heartily.

"You kinda are."


	9. Chapter 9

Halibel Tia groaned.

Maybe she had told her childhood friend a little too much.

When they were in high school, Grimmjow had become one of her best friends, even though she was three years older.

The second she hit college, she distanced far away from him.

Of course she ended up getting involved with Nnoitra Jiruga her sixth year of college, but then she found out what he was doing to Neliel and immediately left him.

She hated him.

She wanted him to die.

But Nnoitra had a couple of things on Halibel herself.

Blackmailing became a pastime for him.

And Halibel was forced to keep her mouth shut.

But when she and Grimmjow both applied as instructors at USS, distances decayed; she had her "bro" back.

She wanted to tell him everything, to have an escape route for her half of hell.

_Keep telling yourself that,_ she had scolded herself.

And now, when she was doing so great in holding her tongue, she slipped up.

Now all she could do was trust and hope in her best friend that all the shit they went through wasn't for nothing.

"Don't let me down, kid," she whispered to herself.

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez sat down at the local Starbucks with Shuhei Hisagi across from him.

"So," Grimmjow began. "What happened?"

Shuhei rolled his eyes. "Nothing."

"Don't talk shit."

"Fine." He took a drink out of his coffee. "We had a successful conference."

Grimmjow growled. "_And_?"

"She admitted to having an issue out of school. But she also told me she doesn't like sharing about it."

He swished his cup around like it was no big deal.

However to Grimmjow, it was.

"So did she share despite hating it?"

"Of course not! Don't be dense!" Shuhei screeched under his breath. "Just remember that whatever it is, it's hittin' that girl _hard_."

Grimmjow rolled his eyes. He knew the whole thing wasn't going to be easy, but when ever did Grimmjow like easy?

He would just have to find out all this by himself.

_Blood._

_Blood was everywhere!_

_Where was it coming from?!_

_She couldn't even tell._

_Her eyes were swollen._

_It was dark, and hazy, a-and everything was so shrill and deafening!_

_But it was silent._

_…yes, silent._

_She should appreciate that…_

_But it wasn't a peaceful silence._

_It was earsplitting!_

_She turned about, trying to see what was going on._

_Her mind was playing tricks on her; she saw something. She didn't._

_Maybe._

_Her vision was terribly blurred._

_"H-He-Help! I-Is someone t-there?! Help!"_

_She thrashed around, looking for a way to escape._

_None._

_"Nel."_

_She heard her name._

_"Nel."_

_Where was it coming from?!_

"Nel! Wake up! Get off me!"

Neliel suddenly awoke from her horrible dream with the help of Tatsuki pushing her back.

"I-I'm sorry, Tats, I must've slept off pretty hard," she said timidly, her heart still beating rapidly, pounding adrenaline through her.

"Yeah, yeah. I fell asleep too. But I woke up because I was being crushed to death by 200 pounds," she said with a smirk.

"I do not weigh 200, Tatsuki!" Nel defended, getting her breathing back under control.

Tatsuki just laughed.

"Whatever."

Nel stood up and stretched, not feeling sick anymore.

"Hey, I think I'm better. That went quick! See, I told you I'd be fine," she bragged.

Tatsuki rolled her eyes. "Whatever boosts your self-esteem."

Nel ignored her and woke her computer up from stand-by.

It was 8:00 pm on Sunday.

Where had the day gone?!

Nel groaned.

"Let's go out somewhere, Tatsuki. I'm bored."

And that is how the two ended up in Tatsuki's car, driving nowhere in particular.

When Nel saw her place of employment, she spoke.

"Let's go to Starbucks, Tats."

Tatsuki took a sharp turn into the plaza. Just as she reached some parking spaces, a car whizzed past.

But Tatsuki knew who was in it.

"I just saw Prof. Hisagi. I swear on my life."

Nel turned around in the passenger's seat to see the car gain distance between them.

"If it was, that's a pretty nice car for a college instructor," Nel said under her breath.

"That was him. I've even seen that car at school," Tatsuki persisted.

"Ok, ok. It was him. Big deal," the green haired woman told her. "So what?"

"So?!" she huffed. "Don't you work here?!"

"Yeah. But I told Kurosaki I worked here. Besides, he told Hisagi what happened." She picked at her nail. "At least that's what Hisagi told me this morning. Maybe he wanted a coffee really bad."  
As Nel was saying this, Tatsuki put her car into reverse and turned around.

"What–"

"And _that_ was Jaegerjaquez," she hissed, driving full speed behind a white Chrysler. "There ain't no one else in this world with blue hair. Hide yours. I don't want him to recognize us."

The green haired woman looked confusedly. "What? Why?"

"Because we're gonna follow him!"

"This is totally unnecessary, Tatsuki! Can't college teachers have their times out too?" she defended.

"This is too suspicious."

Tatsuki followed the Chrysler down the main road as Neliel packed her long hair into a bun, tying a bandanna over her head. Tatsuki put on a pair of shades and handed her passenger a pair, who also put them on.

"Show's just begun," she hissed, flooring the gas pedal.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Late again! By now I think my update period has moved from the last day of the week to "sometime between Saturday and Tuesday." I'm super sorry, and I don't know if I can get out of this habit but I'll try... lol. -whoosh19

* * *

Neliel shook her head as her raven-haired friend tailgated Mr. Jaegerjaquez's car.  
"Don't follow too close, Tatsuki," she warned. "He'll notice."  
The car slowed a bit.  
"Nel, hook up my GPS for me. It'll tell you "Draw Current Route". Click that."  
They followed Mr. Jaegerjaquez all the way down into West Shore, an expensive town on the outskirts of the city.  
"What the hell is he over here for?" Tatsuki mused under her breath. "This is Rich Territory. I really do hope you set the GPS up right."  
"I did, it's saving it," Nel defended.  
The white Chrysler 300 turned into a subdivision named "Langston Estates".  
Tatsuki followed.  
"Hey, zoom out on the GPS. I wanna see if I can take another road but meet up on this one again. Don't you think just following is suspicious to him?" she asked Nel.  
"Please," the green-haired woman scoffed. "He enjoys this shit."  
After three minutes of maneuvering, the Chrysler slowed to almost a complete stop. It turned in a driveway to a very expensive-looking white house.  
"Damn."  
Tatsuki drove past the house so she wouldn't look stupid staring at it.  
"That's one hell-of-a crib," the green-haired woman murmured.  
"Tell me about it. Click "End Route". We'll come by this joint later," Tatsuki told her.

Grimmjow scratched his head.  
See, yesterday, someone followed him home in a black Accord. He wouldn't have thought they were following him, since it could've been a neighbor or someone who got lost.  
The problem was Grimmjow lived quite a ways from the University of Soul Society, about an hour away without traffic. And he knew that no one who came to USS, be it for teaching or for learning, lived down in West Shore.  
Except maybe the Kuchiki Siblings, who obviously didn't drive Hondas.  
And yet he was staring at the same Honda that followed him home the night before.  
Where was he?  
He was in USS Cafeteria's parking lot, about to run in to get breakfast, and stopped abruptly in the middle of the road to stare down the Accord.  
Someone purposely followed him, he was sure of it. The car had the same graffiti on it as yesterday's car.  
So he decided to wait a bit to see who would enter the car. The blue haired man leaned on a Chevy across from the black Honda. After fifteen minutes, a black-haired female he couldn't identify unlocked the doors of the Accord, opened the driver's side, and got in.  
She was definitely a student.  
But how did she find him yesterday? He only went to Starbucks.  
After the car drove away, and Grimmjow had pondered for a while, he chose to think nothing of it.  
It was probably one of those crazed-fan girls who wish they took his course.  
_Well, doesn't life suck,_ he thought.

Nel busied herself during her shift so her mind wouldn't wander.  
She just couldn't believe Mr. Jaegerjaquez lived in West Shore! How could someone like him afford it?  
Someone like him?  
What exactly was that supposed to mean?  
There were too many questions floating amidst her head, and she didn't want to get distracted during work.  
"Neliel!" her boss called.  
"Yes ma'am?"  
"Um, I believe this is for you," she responded. In her hands was a white envelope addressed to "Nellie".  
"Thanks," Nel told her as she took the envelope from Miss Mayumi. She put it in her uniform pocket, where it began to weigh a hundred times as much by lunch time. Why was she so eager to open a simple letter?  
Because she knew who it was from.  
She sat down at an empty table and slowly opened the envelope. Inside was a note.

_Hey,_

_Whenever you're okay to talk to us, call. 975.9139_

_Regards,_

_–Pesche and Dondochakka_

Nel sighed and folded the letter closed. She should've known this was coming. It wouldn't be a big deal to tell them; it was their reaction that was going to be a big deal.  
She didn't want them to overstress it; to her, it didn't really matter anymore. Her parents were gone, end of story.  
Well, at least now she had something else to think about instead of her mysteriously rich computing instructor.  
She groaned; she was reflecting on it again!  
But really.  
Could Mr. Jaegerjaquez be rich?  
It _had_ to be an inheritance; there was no way he could afford a West Shore home with just a college paycheck.  
Like Byakuya Kuchiki.  
_… Definitely_ an inheritance.  
But then, who did he inherit it from? Nel had never heard of another Jaegerjaquez before, so whoever it was probably wasn't that popular. Maybe he was related to a back-in-the-day aristocrat she didn't know of. Or maybe he changed his last name.  
Whatever it was, Nel wanted—no, needed—to find out.  
Otherwise, it would kill her.  
And that was how Neliel found herself in front of her laptop at 9:00 pm, people-searching the web.  
Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, she typed.  
His Facebook account came up, but everything else was useless.  
"Ugh," she groaned.  
She typed in "Jaegerjaquez".  
A couple of names popped up, but no one she clicked on was famous or tried tracking relatives through those annoying "family tracer" sites, but even she knew Mr. Jaegerjaquez wasn't married and didn't have kids.  
… Right?  
"Hey, Nel," Tatsuki said, opening her room door.  
"Tatsuki? Do you think… maybe Mr. J has kids?" Nel wondered absentmindedly.  
After a few seconds, Tatsuki made a snorting noise.  
"_What?_"  
"I was thinking that maybe he had a secret second life he kept from everyone or something."  
"… You're incredibly dumb, Nel."  
Tatsuki sat on Nel's bed, shaking her head.  
"Like we wouldn't hear about it if he had kids!" Tatsuki reasoned sarcastically.  
"Well, you never know," Nel replied.  
"… Fine. We don't know. But to find out… you gotta go to Miss-es Halibel Tia."  
At the sound of that name, Nel shut her eyes hard as unwanted memories flew through her thoughts.  
Nnoitra Jiruga's ex…  
Nnoitra Jiruga.  
She shook her head to try and clear them out.  
"You okay?"  
"… Y-yep, my head spun a bit, I'm a little tired. But why Ms. Tia?" Nel whispered.  
"Well, apparently she and Mr. J were quite the pair in high school."  
"Eww, they were together once?!" the green-haired woman exclaimed. She tried to picture them holding hands and nearly threw up.  
"Uh, I think so. At least that's what Mila told me," Tatsuki replied.  
"Mila?! You listened to _Mila_?! She's the world's greatest gossiper!"  
"She knows Tia like the back of her hand!"  
"Are you sure it's not the other way around?" Nel inquired. Tatsuki closed her mouth for a few seconds and thought.  
"Well… maybe… I don't know. But I do know that if we ask her to ask Tia, we'll get a truthful answer. I'm sure of it," the petite woman reasoned.  
"Okay, well… call her up tomorrow or something so we can find out; it's really bugging me. I don't even know why I care so much. I gotta go to bed; I have a certification exam tomorrow."  
Nel closed her laptop and set it on her dresser as Tatsuki stood up.  
"Frankly, I don't know either. Goodnight," she said.  
"Goodnight."

* * *

Okay so I totally tried this "Single Line Breaks" thing because I am the type of author who makes really short paragraphs (like one sentence long) but when I want to make a new... group of related sentence paragraphs lol, anyway when I try to do that by making a double space instead of a normal "enter" it will only show up as one "enter" and makes it look like everything else. Do you get what I'm saying? Lol. I've tried everything, from redo-ing it on Word and then re-pasting it on here, and I've tried adding line breaks (br) in html but it still won't record it. Does anyone know how to help? It would be greatly appreciated lol :))) Sorry if this new Single Line Breaks thing doesn't look nice/isn't effective/doesn't work! -whoosh19


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **So the second half of this chapter is a waste of time, I just wanted to get an extra character in there but it's just babble. Excuse my poor writing skills but this was written years ago lol. Thanks for reading still! -whoosh19

* * *

After Nel's certification exam was in, she was about to take her leave when Mr. Jaegerjaquez called her over to his desk.

"I'm really glad you are feeling better; I thought you were going to end up missing this exam! It was good to see you this morning, Neliel."

"Um, thanks, and same, Mr. Jaegerjaquez," she whispered.

"I'll see you next Tuesday."

"Y-yeah."

With that, Nel backed herself out of the classroom, feeling very awkward. It was when she had walked away from his room that she began to wonder why in the world he knew she was sick that weekend.

Maybe… maybe Hisagi told him at Starbucks on Sunday!

All of a sudden, Tatsuki's train of thoughts made so much more sense.

They _had_ been talking about her.

But how much does Mr. Jaegerjaquez know?

Nel's phone buzzed, signaling a text message. She looked at her screen, revealing Tatsuki as the messenger.

**meet me in milas rm #209 in da dorms**, it read.

Nel closed out the message and smiled to herself, speeding up her pace.

"So, what is it that you want me to do for you guys again?"

Mila Rose sat on the floor of her dorm room, painting her nails.

"Okay, so Tatsuki told you the story about West Shore, am I correct?"

Mila nodded.

"Well, like, who would've known that a college instructor could afford a Shore house? No one. Everyone knows it's next to impossible… unless… you have a big bucks boost from somewhere else. You follow me?" Nel asked.

"Yeah."

"So… where is his big bucks boost from?"

"I don't know."

"Which is why you ask Tia."

"… Why does any of this matter to you?" she finally spoke after a silence.

Nel, a bit shocked about the sudden question, blushed.

"… I… don't know," she admitted. "It's just… it's been bothering me."

"Ah, one of those nagging anticipations, I see."

"Well… yeah, I guess," Nel confirmed. "Can you ask her?"

"Sure thing. She most likely will guess who really wants to know; she has a knack for doing that," Mila warned her.

"I think… I think it's better if she knows. But don't straight out tell her it's me. Let her figure it out herself, okay?"

"Aiight."

"Thanks so much, Mila," Nel said, smiling.

Mila laughed.

"No problem. I've got your back. You too, Arisawa."

"Heh, you know me too well, Mila," Tatsuki responded.

The girls exchanged farewells, and Nel and Tatsuki took their leave. Once they were in the safety of their own dorm room, Nel burst.

"Tatsuki, they _were_ talking about me. I'm sure of it."

"What?" she asked, confused.

"Jaegerjaquez and Hisagi. Two days ago. They were talking about me in Starbucks."

"Oh, so now you agree something was up?"

"Well, this afternoon after my exam was in, J was all like, "Ooh, I like how you're not sick today, Nel."" She mocked his voice by deepening her own. "And exactly how did he know I was sick? I sure as hell didn't tell him! Which means Hisagi did!" she accused.

"Or maybe Kurosaki. You can't be that sure it was Hisagi," Tatsuki reminded her.

"Or Kurosaki, yeah. But c'mon, Hisagi's told him at least something about me."

"But what?" the black-haired woman asked.

"I don't know."

"Well, let's just say that Jaegerjaquez, Hisagi, and Kurosaki share with each other everything that any one of them has gotten out of you. What does that mean?"

"That means that they all know I got a ride from Kurosaki that day. They all know I got sick while doing so. And they all know… no, they all decided to use Hisagi to squeeze out info from me!" she exclaimed.

Tatsuki blinked at Nel before shutting down.

_"… HUH?!"_

Neliel groaned.

"Remember that little conference?! Something tells me it was all set up!" Nel clarified.

"It was set up? By them? Why would they want to know about what he asked you?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out!"

"Nel, we don't know if they do share everything they know about you among themselves," Tatsuki reminded.

"Okay. I agree. But there's a chance they do, and now there's a chance they set up the conference."

"The conference set-up chance is smaller than the sharing info chance."

"Whatever."

"So back to my question. What would they get out of knowing what Hisagi asked you?" Tatsuki pondered. "What exactly did he ask you?"

"He asked me… he asked… he was worried about my personal life, like he could see something else going on in me."

"Well he's a psychologist; they're usually half-crazy anyways."

"But what would J benefit out of knowing about my personal life?" Nel murmured.

"Oh my God. You can't just blame J. Kurosaki and Hisagi himself are both suspects too."

"… Ugh, this is too confusing!" Nel yelled. "I give up!"

"So three guys—three random guys— are supposedly sharing information with each other about this one… person. Right?"

Tatsuki and Nel were seated across from Ggio "G" Vega, the leader of Alpha-Phi-Sigma, an incredibly math-savvy honor society. Tatsuki had once been in the group, but dropped out after things got a little busy for her. Saturday study sessions with her girls were definitely enough.

Anyways, Tatsuki had insisted they go see him to help sort out this whole chancing thing, since Nel had a tendency to blame things all on one person.

"Yes," Tatsuki answered.

"And the chances are slim that they are sharing info?"

"Well—okay. Guy 1 found something out and we know he told Guy 2. Then Guy 2 found something out and told Guy 3, but didn't necessarily tell Guy 3 what the first guy found out," the black-haired woman clarified. G scribbled on his paper.

"Are you sure that whatever Guy 2 found out was told to Guy 3?"

"… No."

"And do you know if Guy 1 told Guy 3 anything himself?"

"No."

"… So it's an arrangement like this. Guy 1—Guy 2—Guy 3, with the information being passed on the lines. We know that anything Guy 1 finds out is being told to Guy 2 but we don't know if Guy 1 tells Guy 3. However, the info being passed from Guy 2 to Guy 3 could be three things: What Guy 1 told him, what Guy 2 found out himself, or both. Am I correct?" G asked.

"Yes."

"Wow. And there's more to this problem?"

"Yeah. There's a probability that Guy 1, Guy 3, or both of them helped Guy 2 find out his info," Tatsuki added.

"… I don't follow."

Tatsuki sighed.

"Okay. Nel here is Guy 1. I am Guy 2. And you are Guy 3. The subject is this very table. Nel finds out that the table is brown, so she tells me. Then, since either you or she wants to know some more about the table, they blindfold themselves, and bring me the table. Don't laugh— it's just an example. So I find out the table is shiny. But no one knows if I told you, Guy 3, brown, shiny, or both brown and shiny."

Nel sat through the whole conversation, lost by extreme measures.

It seemed as if Tatsuki and G understood it, though.

_Well, I knew from a young age that probability math wasn't for me,_ she thought to herself.

"Your chances for all of this are quite slim," G said after some silence. "I wouldn't even begin to come up with the set-up thing if I didn't know if Guy 1 was telling Guy 3 stuff or not. Right now, there's hardly any proof for that." G stood up. "You want the paper?"

"No thanks," Tatsuki said. "But I appreciate the help."

"No problem. But all you can be sure about is that Guy 1 told Guy 2 everything. That's your given. Hold on to it hard and you'll find the rest out later. Sorry to bust out on you ladies, but I have a class in 20 minutes that I need to get ready for," he confessed.

"Thanks again, G."

"Thank you," Nel added.

"It's not a problem. I'll see you two around."

He bowed slightly and left.

"Thanks, Tats," Nel said sarcastically. "Now I'm more confused than before."

"Ugh, forget it," Tatsuki replied. "Your brain is the size of my fingernail anyways."

"Tatsuki!"


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** Late as evarrr~! Sorry guys. But Chemistry has as of the past week really killied me, and it's frustrating because science is my subject and Chemistry is my high. But I guess me and equilibrium concentration constants have nothing to do with each other. That's okay. Next chapter is acids and bases, which I can do with my eyes closed. Or open, while I write a new chapter in this series :)) -whoosh19

* * *

Izuru Kira, Momo Hinamori, and Orihime Inoue sat in the USS Library, all studying for Ms. Matsumoto's World Studies exam that was coming up.

"So…" Momo began. "Has anyone, uh, _noticed_ anything funny with Hiyori?"

Izuru shook his head. "I don't really associate with her."

"Shh! Keep your voices down; this is a library," Momo reminded him, even though he had whispered. He rolled his eyes.

"What do you mean funny?" Orihime probed.

"Well… like, she seems… annoyed more than usual," Momo informed.

"I haven't noticed anything."

"Ugh, you're no help, Hime! Both of you aren't helping," she complained.

Izuru snickered.

"Tell us what you know, then."

"Doesn't she like… _like_ Dr. Kurosaki?" Momo whispered.

"What?!" Orihime interjected.

"SHH!" she cried. "No one's supposed to know!"

"Wow, Hinamori. I've never seen you gossip like this," Izuru said, feigning shock.

"I'm not _gossiping_; it's just that… well like, you guys heard what happened with Neliel, right?"

"… No?" Orihime said confusedly.

"Like, remember the day she got a ride from him?"

"Oh, okay, yeah. Tatsuki told me."

"Oh boy." Izuru yawned, uninterested.

"Shut up, Kira!" Momo harshly whispered. "Don't listen if you don't care. Anyways," Momo leaned towards Orihime, who was across from her. "Hiyori threw a fit when she found out. I was _there_. Now every time some unfortunate person mentions Nel, she goes crazy. And Hiyori's my friend, but so is Nel. All she did was get a ride. So what's the big deal with Hiyori?"

Orihime sat quietly for a second.

"I don't know. Maybe she does like him. I mean, I don't really pay attention to that kind of stuff," she finally admitted.

"Oh, well," Momo said, sighing. "I just hope she gets over whatever it is."

Grimmjow was at a local supermarket buying energy drinks. He grumbled inside himself because he pictured only gay twenty-some year old men shopping at supermarkets. He subconsciously stood straighter and flexed to "add masculinity" to his appearance.

In line, a woman with two toddler twins was loading her items onto the conveyor belt. One of the female twins was awake. She looked at Grimmjow and smiled.

"Momma! Momma!" she cried, pointing at burly man.

Aggravated and under stress, the woman grumbled. "_What is it, Romi?!_"

The girl's smile grew wide. "Blue!"

The mother just stared blankly at the kid before she followed the toddler's waving finger and turned around, surprised at what met her gaze.

Grimmjow huffed.

He knew it was bound to happen.

"I-I'm sorry about that," she said quickly to him before turning around and scolding her child about her lack of manners.

She then briskly paid for her items and left the awkward scene, her girl still smiling and murmuring at the head of blue hair she had seen.

"Kids," the cashier muttered, shaking his head as he scanned Grimmjow's items. "How are you today, sir?"

The tall man stared at the awkward-looking cashier before answering. "Good; how about you?"

"Never been better. Your total is $27.44."

As Grimmjow swiped his card, he looked at the cashier again. There was something off about him. Usually Grimmjow never cared about things like that, but, this wasn't a usual case.

The cashier looked like he belonged in high school with the rest of the ugly "Loners" in Soul Society.

"Something you need, sir?" he asked as he caught the blue haired man's gaze.

"Nope."

Grimmjow caught the name on his tag.

Pesche Guatiche.

_…_ _What kind of dumb ass name is _that_?!_ he thought to himself.

"Have a good day."

"You too."

_I swear,_ Grimmjow grumbled in his head. _You won't ever catch me in a supermarket again._

"Hello."

"Hi, um, Tesla."

Neliel stood at the register of Starbucks, Tesla Lindocruz in front of it.

"C-Can I help you?"

"I'd like to speak with the manager of this restaurant," he told her.

"… Okay."

She ran through the "Employees Only" door and knocked on the manager's room, wondering why in the world _Tesla Lindocruz_ wanted to speak with her boss.

Wasn't he… wasn't he with Mr. Jiruga?

Neliel involuntarily shivered.

"Yes, come in!"

Nel nudged the door open and smiled at Miss Mayumi.

"Um, somebody requests to speak with you," Nel told her.

"Oh? I'll be right there, okay?"

The green-haired woman walked back out to the front of the store, her insides buzzing with confusion and slight fear.

"S-She'll be right out. Sorry for the minor wait."

Tesla nodded and sat at a booth in the corner of the restaurant.

Nel couldn't keep her eyes off him.

It wasn't like she admired him or anything.

It's just that… well…

He wasn't supposed to come near her, _ever_ again.

At least that's what she remembered Mr. Jiruga telling her a long time ago.

But she wasn't supposed to trust Mr. Jiruga, either.

Right?

She couldn't remember!

All she knew was to stay far away from them both, otherwise…

Well, _something_ would happen.

She just didn't recall what.

Her eyes scanned the restaurant in a bored fashion, since there were no customers at the time. It was then that her manager walked out through the "Employees Only" door and steered towards Nel.

"Who's here?" she whispered.

Nel bobbed her head in Tesla's direction, watching him intently as he tapped on an electronic in his hand.

"Ah, okay."

The green haired woman observed with anticipation as her boss walked up to and shook hands with someone she'd deemed as 'dangerous'.

After fifteen minutes of painful patience, Tesla and Miss Mayumi shook hands again and exchanged good-byes.

Nel's eyes followed the blonde man as he stepped out of the restaurant.

"Neliel," Miss Mayumi sang quietly. "I think someone likes you!"

Nel's heart beat erratically; not because of what her boss had just come up with, but what lay behind it. When she heard those words, the "He mentioned you!" she asked her what he said about her.

"Oh nothing," her boss bluffed. "He's just thinking of applying here, and he wanted to know if he'd be working opposite or same shifts as you. I told him you're here only Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, so he should consider that into his schedule, whether same or opposite works for him. But I think that was just a round-a-bout way to see how many times he can visit you in a week!"

Miss Mayumi winked at the now shocked Nel, walking back into the rear of the restaurant.

_It was just a round-a-bout way…_

That made so much sense.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: I'm like, legit asleep. Forgive me for typos. -whoosh19

* * *

Two weeks had passed since Tesla appeared suspiciously at Starbucks. Nel had contacted Pesche and Dondochakka and told them the story of her missing parents, but carefully left out the tale of… her… _other_ issues.

And speaking of other issues, the trio consisting of her three instructors had her losing her mind. Mila had gone to Ms. Tia about the whole "Rich" thing, and told Nel and Tatsuki what she squeezed out on Tuesday.

_"It's an inheritance… from a dead brother," Mila had exposed._

_"A dead brother? What the hell?" Tatsuki responded._

_"And why in the world does Tia tell you this shit?!" Nel said, raising her voice._

_"Our families are pretty close." Mila sighed. "Anyway, his brother had come down with some fatal sickness but he kept brushing it off as a minor cold. The guy was pretty wealthy on some stocks or something, but by the time he realized his illness was life-threatening, it was already too late for the docs to do anything. So he wrote his will and gave the dough to J."_

_"… Were they close? J and his bro?" Tatsuki asked._

_"How should I know?! You didn't give me a list of interrogation questions, you know."_

There was so much more to Mr. Jaegerjaquez than the creepy-but-attractive man that she dubbed him as, Nel realized. She had been quick to judge.

But now, she was hooked; she wanted to know what exactly lied underneath his badass demeanor. And she didn't know why she cared so much. She just did.

Anyway, today was Thursday. She was busy at work, tending to customers coming in rapidly due to a huge special Starbucks was offering. Only after things calmed down after her lunch break did her mind begin to wander about the news she heard from Mila.

Her mind didn't wander far though.

But her heart immediately froze the second she laid her hazel eyes on the lanky man who strode through the doors of Starbucks.

She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, she couldn't…

"Greetings, Neliel."

Her name rolled off the man's tongue in a disturbing fashion, his smile causing the green-haired woman to see stars.

She was speechless, paralyzed.

Frozen with fear.

The man chuckled at her appearance. Her wide, frightened eyes and the way she clutched the counter she was behind made him want to laugh hysterically.

"What, can't talk anymore?!" the man taunted. After another silence on her part, the man scoffed.

"You're still of no use."

He violently grasped her chin in his thin fingers, drawing her paled face closer to his.

"You weren't back then either," he whispered, sneering.

"G-Get away from me, you bastard."

"Ah, I see you've developed some nerve since the last time we… encountered."

He pulled away from her, letting go of his hold.

"Leave me alone, Jiruga!" she fiercely voiced, careful not to draw too much attention to what was already being buzzed about the restaurant. "Don't you _ever_ touch me again!"

Nnoitra Jiruga's eyes went wide in slight shock at the woman's mouth, but then his expression shifted into something akin to amusement.

"_I_ saved you all those years back, Nel. Is this how you treat me? After all that?"

"You picked me up from torment and dropped me into affliction. Yes, Jiruga, you saved me _indeed_."

She then narrowed her eyes to slits as she leaned in to say something confidential.

"And I am sick of this bullshit, this… suffering you've caused in my life. It ends here. Right now."

Neliel folded her arms on her chest as she straightened up.

"Tch. We'll see about that, you foolish little bitch," he murmured before storming out of the café. When he left, Nel began to tremble uncontrollably. The way she had just acted; if she'd done that back then… back then…

She felt her eyes beginning to water; she bolted to the restroom and locked herself in a stall where she cried out only some of the endless anguish that had manipulated her childhood. Endless anguish caused by her absent parents… and Nnoitra Jiruga.

Fate just loved to torment the green-haired woman. That's how she saw it.

By the time she had pulled her façade back on, her shift was over.

"Neliel, are you alright? One of your coworkers in the kitchen just told me that you got into a bit of a quarrel with someone," her boss stated accusingly.

"Miss Mayumi, I assure you it was a personal affair. By no means would I respond to a normal customer in that manner."

"Yes, well…" Miss Mayumi responded. "Please don't do something like that again. It's… unethical in a work environment."

"I am truly sorry for my poor conduct," she apologized, bowing.

"It's alright this time; I like your kind, Neliel," her boss praised. "Quick to make amends. Well, your shift is over, so I'll see you next Monday."

"Yes ma'am. Thank you."

"Anytime, sweetie."

Grimmjow couldn't understand how Halibel worked her magic.

The blonde had told him that morning that Nnoitra Jiruga was about to take matters into his own hands this afternoon.

_"'The hell's that mean?" Grimmjow grumbled._

_"Are you still interested in this whole… dispute between Neliel Oderschvank and Nnoitra Jiruga?" she inquired in boredom as they discussed on their way to the Yamako building._

_"Sure, why not?"_

_"Well, then you'll see what I mean… if you go to Nel's place of work this afternoon." The green eyed woman brushed something off her arm nonchalantly._

_"Where's that?"_

_"Starbucks."_

_"… Why the hell do you know all this shit?!" Grimmjow finally asked, exploding._

_Halibel laughed humorlessly._

_"I just do."_

_"So what's in it for me?" he mused, annoyed._

_"Are you that senseless, Mr. Jaegerjaquez?" Halibel taunted. "Don't you know people become more willing to talk when they're most vulnerable?"_

_Grimmjow had ignored the politely voiced insult as he pondered on her last sentence._

_"Okay… sure they do. So?"_

_The blonde woman sighed. "I can't believe you. Lemme spell it out for you: Maybe if you talk to Neliel after what goes down, she'd be willing to spill her personal side."_

The blue haired man smirked at the relatively new memory from that morning as he drove behind the tremendously emotionally-driven woman.

See, she wasn't driving straight. At all.

After a couple swerves here and there and a lot of braking, it was time for _Grimmjow_ to take matters into his own hands.

Nothing could smash his piggy bank anyways.

_Cripes,_ Nel thought. _I'm gonna frickin die on this road, I _swear.

The woman knew she couldn't drive when mental things got in the way. It's just that… she sounded so brave back at Starbucks, but it was all superficial. And the image dissipated once she left the restaurant after being scolded by her boss.

_God, I hate that man; I hate what he does to me!_

And that was it.

She braked unexpectedly, but violently, and the vehicle behind her collided with her Corolla's rear, propelling it forward gas pedal unnecessary.

With a panicked groan, she hit her "Hazard Light" button and looked into the rear view mirror.

"_Oh my God…_"

It was a Chrysler. How in hell could she pay for a stuck-up, probably male ass who'd blame the whole accident on her?

Well, it was her fault.

But she could imagine the jump her insurance company would place on her bill.

With one last sigh, she emerged from the car, ready to face hell itself. As soon as she closed her car door and turned to see the driver of the other car, she did a double-take.

"M-Mister… Mr. Jaegerjaquez?!" she sputtered, her eyes wide.

"Heh, small world, huh?" he offered.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh... I am legitimately sorry for leaving y'all hanging. I feel so guilty! I'm trying better.**

* * *

Nel shakily made her way towards the blue-haired man as many thoughts began to race her mind. When she reached him, she turned to face the collision and gasped.

Oh no!

Her bumper had been knocked off almost entirely. And one of the taillights were damaged badly, the other just barely surviving, and Mr. Jaegerjaquez's car had some dents and quite a few scratches. But Mr. Jaegerjaquez didn't even spare a glance at the cars.

"Are you hurt?"

Nel looked at him in surprise; did he not care about his precious 300?

"I-I'm fine, I–"

"You sure? You don't seem… well," he observed.

"N-No really! I'm just a bit shocked I guess, and look what I did to your car, and, and…"

Nel rambled on for quite a while, clearly unnerved. Mr. Jaegerjaquez almost smiled; Halibel had been right. At this rate, she'd probably tell him anything. But he'd save the Jiruga questions for later, not when they were parked on the side of the road.

"Neliel, are you crying?"

The blue-haired man noticed a small yet discernible tear in the corner of her eye, even though she wouldn't meet his gaze. The woman didn't answer him, but her mindless reasoning ceased.

Geez. She was crying over a little kiss on a car? What exactly had Jiruga done to this girl?!

"N-No… I just had something in my eye," she lied after quite the awkward silence, rubbing the tear off. "So I guess I'll uh, call my insurance–"

"Don't."

Mr. Jaegerjaquez stared hard at Nel.

"Don't call," he repeated. "I've got this."

As he began to search his pockets, Neliel stuttered all sorts of things.

"What are you _doing_?! Lemme just call them up; it's not a big deal. It was my fault anyways; I should've been more responsible–"

She kept on chattering helplessly until Mr. Jaegerjaquez stretched out his arm, two five hundreds in his hand.

Two five hundred dollar bills.

A thousand frickin dollars.

Nel looked at the money, then him.

"No."

"Take it."

"I won't."

"Just take the damn money, Neliel!" he grumbled, his voice rising to that of irritation.

"And do what? I can't pay you back a grand, Jaegerjaquez!"

"I'm not asking you to pay me back," he told her calmly.

"So you want me to swipe a thousand flipping dollars from you just like that?" she asked incredibly.

He didn't respond.

She scoffed, her voice cracking a little. "Well that makes it even worse."

As she turned to go grab her phone from her car, Mr. Jaegerjaquez's voice filled her ears with a very serious message.

"Neliel. All kidding aside, I will literally report you to my boss to have you removed from your scholarship. Take the money, and fix up your damn car."

Nel would've laughed at the whole proposition if his tone hadn't been so… threatening.

"Are you _serious_?!"

"Wanna test your luck?"

She walked back over to him and stared hard into his icy eyes, her furrowed eyebrows making little dents in the center of her head.

"Sorry. I _have_ no luck."

With that, she snatched the two bills from his hand angrily and left him to gape at her double-meaning phrase. The blue-haired man got into his Chrysler after watching the furious woman drive off.

He smiled to himself, starting his car.

_This woman never ceases to utterly confuse the hell outta me._

__

She just got a thousand dollars.

For free.

A normal being world be overjoyed, but was she normal?

Nel gritted her teeth as she drove—safely—back home.

"That bastard," she seethed. "What does he take me for?"

It wasn't until she reached her home that she began to cry in her car.

She should've thanked him.

But instead, she left in anger.

He was just trying to be generous, right? And plus, he didn't really see a thousand dollars as much money anyways, correct? He was just trying to be nice. And look how foolishly she behaved!

_I'm such an idiot,_ she thought to herself as she sobbed. _Such an idiot._

_#*#*#_

"Then, she just took off!" Grimmjow explained, irritated.

Halibel closed her eyes and sighed as her old time friend retold the occurrences of the day before.

"She's… like that at times. She doesn't like being in debt to anyone, even if you tell her otherwise. Her mindset is that she _has_ to give back what she takes, even if it's not necessary," the tall woman rationalized. "Give her some time. Her conscience will eat at her for a while, believe me on that. Be ready to somehow receive an apology from her in no more than three days."

An _apology_? The word was so foreign and unaccustomed to Grimmjow and his vocabulary that he scowled.

"She's gonna _apologize_ for that shit? What is wrong with that woman?" he exclaimed in slight frustration.

"She's a girl of morals. You don't have either."

He hissed.

"Shut up, Tia; you're the one who had the capacity to wanna date Jiruga."

Halibel rolled her eyes as she stared out the window, watching the early sunrise.

"Anyways, I hope you didn't damage her car that bad. I can't believe you did it _on purpose_. You probably scared the lights outta that girl."

Grimmjow scoffed.

"Please. Her bumper didn't even fall off."

"You say that like you meant it to. You weren't supposed to _kill her_," Halibel reprimanded.

He laughed.

"I didn't."

"So how did she take the Nnoitra thing?" the blonde woman inquired.

"I was outside at one of the patio tables in front of the café. Jiruga went in, grabbed her face, probably spat in it while he was at it–" he narrowed his eyes, pissed off a little, "But then she _retaliated_. You could see the anger radiating off her. It was definitely something to see," he concluded.

Halibel smirked. "She's getting better."

"At what?"

"That wasn't meant for you."

"But I heard it," he argued.

"So? I'm helping you… what exactly am I helping you with?" she asked, confused.

Grimmjow deliberated for a minute.

Why did he care for this whole thing so much? It certainly wasn't his business. Whether Nel had Jiruga breathing down her back or not really shouldn't matter to him.

But then again…

The woman was someone of intensity! For somebody to just turn her into mush by just looking at her—it _had_ to be serious.

Besides, he _hated _Nnoitra. He was filthy, irritating, and disrespectful. It was nearly painful to remember the time that he _really _ground Grimmjow's gears.

_It was right after a faculty meeting. Grimmjow Jeagerjaquez had been hired for about three months and he was getting the hang of it. Of course, however, in every work environment, there was always that one… idiot._

_Meet Nnoitra Jiruga._

_Grimmjow in college had been much rasher than Grimmjow teaching it. And Grimmjow in high school was rasher than both of those. The point was he'd grown a bit… _mature_, so to speak. As a result, the then twenty-five year old male tried keeping his peace when it came to others. But there was Nnoitra, who constantly stepped on his toes just for the hell of it. And Grimmjow had had enough of it._

_And there he was, the idiot._

_"I'm baffled at what kind of faggot dyes his hair _blue, _of all colors!" he hissed, far too loud for it to be considered to himself._

_Grimmjow stopped in his tracks._

_"Excuse me?"_

_"Hmm? Oh no, don't mind me. I was just musing about how utterly ludicrous blue hair looks," he sneered._

_Said blue-haired man turned around and narrowed his cold, matching in color eyes at Nnoitra._

_"Because you're one to talk; I've never seen someone so ugly in my damn life," he replied, sizing the lanky man up._

_"Just be thankful I actually _need _this job… otherwise I'd trade it… for a swing at your face, bastard."_

_"And you damn well be thankful I'm feeling levelheaded today… otherwise I'd probably smash that repulsive face under my feet."_

_Nnoitra glared at the retreating back of his enemy before weighing outcomes. He decided to go with his instinct and flung himself at the muscular man in front of him, fist outstretched for a punch that would've broken bones, had it actually hit him._

_With Grimmjow now holding Nnoitra's fisted hand, the latter seethed as he ripped his arm from Grimmjow's range. And then he was flying backwards._

_The bigger man had decked the thinner one in the eye which set him off balance as he fell to the ground._

_"Stop pissin' me off."_

_Grimmjow stalked away._

The man rolled his eyes in annoyance at the dumb memory.

But most of all… he wanted to help _her_. Nel. He couldn't understand why, since he was notorious for being egotistical and selfish. But seeing her helpless like the way Nnoitra made her really angered him. Which was extremely weird.

"Ahem."

Halibel cleared her throat to be acknowledged.

Grimmjow blinked; how long was he spaced out?

"What am I helping you for?" she repeated.

He looked at her carefully and shrugged.

"I don't know."

"It's out of character for you," she pointed.

"Shut up. I just want Nnoitra put in his place," Grimmjow masked.

Halibel sighed.

"Okay. But remember one thing: Neliel is a woman; but around Nnoitra she's a small, vulnerable child. I don't say this to insult her; I say this to warn you. He brings out the weaknesses and fears in her and hands it back to her on a platter. Remember this, okay? It will be useful if you're going to continue to bring Nnoitra down."

"Why are _you _helping me, Tia?" Grimmjow turned on her.

She laughed remorsefully with a grim smile.

"Because that's what friends are for."

* * *

**A/N: I never knew there wasn't such a thing as a five hundred dollar bill anymore. :O That legit killed my spirit a little lol. In my story, there are five hundred dollar bills :P Haha leave me to be the one who had no idea five hundred dollar bills have been gone for a while.**


	15. Chapter 15

Nel sat up, dispirited, in her bed.

The two bills had been carefully placed in her drawer under the clothes in them. And even though in reality they weighed probably less than a feather, she kept thinking her drawer would topple over.

She felt guilty.

She felt frightened.

Literally every negative emotion known to man coursed through her.

She'd admit; she was scared of Nnoitra. She wasn't going to lie to herself. But she would trade for countless encounters with him if it meant she could go back in time and thank Mr. Jaegerjaquez for being considerate. The man had lost a brother, for goodness' sakes! Why should he care about her stupid car enough to _give _her a thousand bucks? If anything, he'd make her pay for _his_ damages.

The tired woman sighed and stretched, reading her alarm clock.

11:50 am Friday morning.

Mr. Kurosaki and Mr. Jaegerjaquez's courses had been completed for the summer break, leaving only two sessions more of her Psychology course before she was free for 10 weeks. She couldn't wait. This year had been quite year struggle.

But it didn't compare to the year before and the year before that, back when she took Business Technology.

She shuddered involuntarily; she wished that everything would end like she said so yesterday. But luck wasn't on her side; she even told her instructor the same. Thinking about the accident made another pang of regret course through her.

Oh, how she hated her conscience!

Nel flung the covers off her body and made way to the bathroom, where she took a short shower. When she dressed up and got out, she picked up Tatsuki's yellow pages book and began to search for a repair shop and possibly a towing company if she needed.

There was no point in hiding money if the person she received it from didn't want it back.

She called about 5 different shops nearby before finding one convenient enough for her. The bumper repair would cost her $500, so she decided to call a towing company to come get her Corolla the next morning.

Tatsuki… where was she?

The petite woman had had Dr. Kurosaki's class with Nel, so she was also class-free this morning. After her call to the two previous companies, she dialed Tatsuki,

"Hello?"

"Tatsuki, where are you?" Nel inquired urgently.

There was a tiny silence before she replied.

"I'm running a couple of errands. But, hey, what happened to your car, girl? The back looks like it got kicked in pretty good."

Nel sighed.

"I'll tell you that one later, I promise. Lemme just get it fixed up first," she reassured.

"You sure you got enough cash to do that? Or you're crediting that bitch?" Tatsuki asked. Neliel laughed without humor.

"Answer that question yourself."

"Credit."

The response wasn't a beat late. Nel smiled; _she_ wasn't the one who said credit.

"I gotta go," she said, throwing in a fake giggle. "Bye."

"Peace, sister."

The phone clicked, signaling the call's completion. The green-haired woman sighed in exhaustion, moaning for her conscience to leave her alone.

Needless to say, it didn't.

#*#*#

"The whore… _gets_… _on_… _my_… _nerves_!"

Nnoitra Jiruga kicked up dust on the ground, wound up about the confrontation the day before.

"I worked so hard to break her will back then. It was all a damn waste!"

"Uh, N-Nnoitra, sir, maybe–"

"_You_…! Shut the hell up! You are completely useless! I should sell you off right this instant," the creepy man hissed at his blonde subordinate. "Can't even give me useful information. Get outta my damn sight!"

Tesla backed away pretty quick from his master before he got killed. When he was gone, Nnoitra heaved a frustrated sigh.

Whatever.

If she grew her will back in the past… five years she escaped from his grip, he'd just have to break her again.

Harder.

Nnoitra smiled; torturing was right up his alley.

#*#*#

Neliel found herself catching the public bus to Myron Apartments, where her god-brothers lived. She arrived in twenty minutes, huffing as she dragged her way up the stairs to their door. She was thankful when the door opened in response to her knock, a surprised Pesche behind it.

"Neliel?! What brings you here today?" he asked, shocked. She formed a tiny smile.

"I… don't feel so well."

"Well, come on in. D should be coming back from the store pretty soon."

Pesche ushered his god-sister into his small home, shutting and locking the door behind them both.

"Do you want anything to eat? Drink?" he questioned.

It was then Nel realized she hadn't eaten that morning.

"I'll just have some juice, thanks."

"Orange, cranberry, lemonade, or grape?" Pesche offered.

"Umm… lemonade."

The boy walked into the kitchen to prepare his request. Nel tried to relax, loosening her shoulders as she gazed, uninterested, at the tedious television channel.

She was failing miserably.

Pesche came back some minutes later with a lemonade and a Pepsi, plopping down next to the green-haired woman.

"So… what's going on?"

Nel shuffled in her seat uncomfortably.

"Well, like… I got into an accident yesterday."

"Oh yeah? Are you okay?" he asked frantically.

"I'm fine, but like… the other person in the accident was my college instructor," she explained.

"Ooh, that's kinda awkward."

"Right?! So we talked and I made to call my uh, insurance company, and he told me I shouldn't call and handed me a thousand dollars _cash_."

Pesche's eyes bulged.

"What?! He's that rich?"

"Yeah. Me and this girl Mila found out he inherited it from relatives. He lives in West Shore."

"Wow. He's quite the gentleman! I never knew those rich snobs could be so selfless! I need to meet this dude. What's his name?" Pesche inquired.

"Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez," Nel reported.

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez… where had he heard that name? It was extremely familiar…

"Oh geez! Does the guy have electric blue hair?!"

"Damn straight. No one else in this town does."

"I know him! H-He was at S-Mart the other day and some little kid laughed at his hair, that's how I remembered! Poor guy should just dye it something else!" Pesche shook his head in pity.

Nel laughed—albeit without humor.

"Must have been a sight to see," she whispered.

"He's a good guy, Nellie. He paid you... just like that?" He snapped his fingers for emphasis.

"Yeah, I know. I know he's a good guy. That's why… that's why I don't feel good."

Pesche blinked at her, not understanding.

"I snatched the money out of his hands in rage. I just—he made me feel like I was insufficient and that I wouldn't be able to pay for my and his damage." She twirled her hair absentmindedly. "Now I regret it. Like, he's not the type to look down on people… at least I think so. If he is, he certainly wasn't trying to back then. I should've thanked him."

Nel's voice cracked at the end of her sentence, causing her god-brother to instinctively place a hand around her. Immediately the woman buried her face in her hands, trying to stop tears.

"I just… I feel so _bad_… he must hate me so much right now! He's probably going, _'Oh my God, look at this bitch who didn't utter a word of thanks after I handed her a grand flat.' _I feel horrible!"

She urged her body to cease the tremors rolling through her body, but by then she'd lost all her willpower and just cried on Pesche's shoulder instead.

_And to think I was strong,_ she snapped mentally.

_To think I was strong enough, even after Nnoitra. I am just a fool._


	16. Chapter 16

Pesche Guatiche began to rack his brain, thankful that he had been intrigued by the course Psychology just like his god-sister. It did him good in the situation he was in…

He knew there was something terrible that had happened to Nel after her parents died.

The woman had left shortly after he'd suggested something she should do about the whole car accident thing and the lack of apology that was killing her. And now Pesche's thoughts took him back to the time when the green-haired woman had come over for the first time.

"_Yeah… I remember the day almost vividly."_

_She sat on the small couch, her legs curled up under her frame. "It was during late summer; about two years since I'd seen you guys last, so I had just completed seventh grade. I woke up, eager because I had been promised an outing of some sort—I can't really remember what we were going to do that day—but when I hopped out of bed and into Mom and Dad's room, boom—they were gone." She shifted subconsciously where she sat. "I had thought maybe they, you know, went out on some errands and stuff. But when _days_ went by, I couldn't help but suppose that perhaps they had failed to tell me that the outing was really a business trip and it wasn't for me. That maybe the babysitter forgot where I lived... as if I needed one when I was thirteen. That it escaped my parents' minds to call and check up on me. Of course, they never did call. And I knew something had terribly gone wrong when monthly bills began to come in… was it possible for my own parents to just up and forget about me?" A tear escaped her eyes. "Their _only_ daughter? It was so… far-fetched! I'd told myself for so many _years_ that they were coming back. I ran out of the house after two months of being alone. I was a smart kid—I knew the realtors would be coming soon to check up on the house._

"_They did, eventually. By then, I had lied through my teeth to all my friends' parents. I told them that we were moving across town, and that I had wanted to see all my friends even though we moved. I told them that my parents gave me permission to sleep over for an indefinite amount of time—which really meant I'd stay over till they got suspicious. When they did, it was onto the next friend. I kept going to school normally, and I really have no idea how I escaped Foster Care. The incompetent bastards. Oh well. It's not like I longed to go with them—I kept believing my mother and father were going to come back, so why waste time in a foster home?" She sighed, uncomfortable. "I kept it up until tenth grade, when—" she paused, looking almost panic-stricken. "Wh-when… when I had found a permanent home until I was eighteen."_

Their conversation had ended abruptly, with Nel making up an excuse to leave. The hesitation in her last words had not gone unnoticed by Pesche, who knew she was hiding something. But what?

The story of her life after they had left the Oderschvanks was horrible. But… it wasn't bad enough for her to keep it to herself. That meant she had somehow overcome the pain of missing her caretakers. The question was what happened in tenth grade? She sure went into detail about everything else. Summing it up as "I found a permanent home" made it hard to believe something wasn't going on. And if she had overcome the grief of her parents, which could be quite difficult, then whatever that last part meant was much, much worse. If she could nonchalantly speak of lost relatives without so much of a sob, then tenth grade was definitely her rock-bottom.

Pesche was grateful for all those nerdy high school years where he thrived on sci-fi and all things related.

_Psychology,_ he told himself, _is the best art known to man._

_#*#*#_

Pesche was a genius! A genius!

Nel was chanting that in her head as she danced around her dorm the next morning. It was Saturday, May 31, though that was pretty irrelevant to her. The towers had already come for her car that morning, so she wasn't really planning to go anywhere the rest of the day… unless Tatsuki had a place in mind.

But, it was time to listen to what Pesche told her yesterday.

"_Hey…" he soothed gently. "Stop it. If you wanna apologize so badly, just… e-mail him or whatever. Doesn't he have like, some school e-mail account you're supposed to know?"_

_Nel raised her head off his shoulder to look at him, her eyes wide with disbelief._

_E-mail. Why hadn't she thought of that?!_

"_Oh my God, Pesche… you're so right! I could e-mail him!" The woman now grinned fanatically, her earlier mood discarded in that short amount of time. "Thanks!"_

Nel couldn't believe that she hadn't thought of e-mailing her instructor when it was e-mailing itself that brought their fates together.

Brought fates together?

Nel shook her head violently to discard the thought. They definitely weren't together. Otherwise, by now she'd seen the pack of six that certainly lay underneath his polo shirts…

Oh shit.

Somebody, anybody, please… tell her she hadn't just considered how her rich instructor looked half-naked.

The guy was nice, he was attractive, but _hello_! He was her _teacher_!

She wailed dramatically, fisting her hands at her sides as she kicked her legs furiously while seated on her bed.

_I'm not falling for him, I'm not falling for him, I'm not..._

Nel began to chant that instead as she waited for her laptop to boot. She clicked her internet browser the minute her laptop loaded, and found the school e-mail server on her bookmarks. With that, the green-haired woman began to type a message to Mr. Jaegerjaquez. It surely brought back memories only a month ago.

**To:** Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez

**From:** Neliel Tu Oderschvank

**Subject:** Hi.

**Can't believe I'd be sending you a message this early since my dare. Lol. All joking aside, I really want to apologize for my insensitive behavior Thursday evening. I'm truly sorry for acting spoiled and thoughtless when you were really just trying to help. I guess I mistook your motives, thinking that maybe you were insulting me and my capability or whatever. But you weren't. You were just being considerate. And I truly appreciate it, even if I failed to show it that evening. Thanks so much. And I'll pay you back when I can, don't sweat it.**

—**Nel**

She proof-read it over and over again before hitting "Send". When all that was said and done, she finally let out a much-needed sigh and smiled contently to herself, closing her eyes.

It felt great to be let off the hook.

#*#*#

Tatsuki fumed.

See, her errands, yesterday? Well, she had heard that Hiyori Sarugaki had been back-talking Neliel. And while the green-haired woman was perfectly fine with Hiyori, Tatsuki didn't really like her as much. Yes, she'd told Hiyori things she'd never tell anyone else. But that was because she probably had needed someone to talk to immediately. Anyway, the petite, black-haired woman had confronted her in anger.

"_Why in the hell would you talk shit about my best friend behind her damn back? You're such a pussy!" she raged._

_Hiyori growled._

"_I don't talk shit about useless whores, Tatsuki. It's a waste of time."_

"_Why you stupid bitch–!"_

And Tatsuki had lost any self-control she'd had and all but charged at the girl with the notion of ripping her apart. It had been quite a fight, especially since it was in the parking lot outside the USS Café. People prevented the two from killing each other, thankfully, but the black-haired woman had definitely done some harm.

And she was incredibly glad. At least _that_ should show her.

Anyways, she had avoided Nel yesterday by staying over at Orihime's dorm, since staying with Lisa might've been risky. Her and Hiyori were kinda good friends also, much to her annoyance. Why did everyone _like_ her? She was completely retarded!

Orihime had been the one to slip up and tell her what was going on two weeks ago. After lots of prying at the red-headed female and dangling some blackmail in her eyes, she had told her that apparently Hiyori had been crushing on Kurosaki for a while, to which Tatsuki snorted. It was completely obvious. Everybody probably knew, even Kurosaki himself. She acted like such a whore around him. In any case, Orihime spilled that the bitch was pissed off at Nel and she spurts out venomous words when brought up. So Tatsuki promised to pay the girl a visit sometime. And that time had been yesterday.

Hiyori had decked Tatsuki right below her left eye, which she knew would lightly bruise in a while. It hurt like a bitch.

She hissed in annoyance.

#*#*#

Pesche parked in front of the main office, getting out of his compact car and making his way inside the building. It was comfortably cool, seeing that outside the temperatures had soared above the sky in heat. The nineteen year old strolled up to the front desk, addressing the petite woman behind it.

"Hello, welcome to the University of Soul Society's campus! How may I help you?"

The phrase sounded like it was well-rehearsed, but Pesche couldn't blame her, since he was in the same job sector as her.

"Yes, uh… well I would like to speak to Mr. Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez."

The woman gave him a hard stare.

"You do realize that his classes are over?" she spoke, her voice a little too edgy.

"Yes, I know," Pesche confirmed. "This is urgent, however."

The woman broke her gaze from the young adult after some seconds, turning to her computer which probably kept her more interested than he.

"Have you scheduled a time to speak to him?" she asked finally, tapping away on her keyboard.

"Well, uh, _no_, I haven't," he confessed, flustered.

She eyed him again; God, this little kid was on her last nerve. The woman sighed and murmured incoherently to calm herself.

"I'll see what I can do."

The woman then picked up a nearby phone and dialed some numbers. After it rang for a while, someone answered it.

"Yes, this is SoiFon. Do you by any chance have an idea as to Mr. Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez's whereabouts today? I have an, uh–" her gaze landed quickly on Pesche before fleeting off again, "a request for a conference marked A.S.A.P. I would page him, but he's not one to turn the thing on."

The other person on the line began to talk, and, after a few minutes, SoiFon murmured in agreement to whatever was said and quickly hung up.

"He'll, uh, meet you in the uh, café… God, he is very unprofessional, be warned."

Pesche would've laughed but she said it so serious.

"What time?" he asked instead.

"Right now."

Even though the lady was a secretary and that definitely meant she was supposed to thoroughly help people out, he could tell she was very much done with him, as now she went back to typing on the computer in front of her.

"Thank you," he muttered, turning to walk out of the office.

"My pleasure. Have a nice day."


	17. Chapter 17

"Ah, Mr. Jaegerjaquez! It's a pleasure to meet you. I was the one who requested your presence this afternoon."

Pesche shook hands with the bewildered blue-haired man.

"Ah, I um, see… what's your name?"

The guy did look terribly familiar…

"Pesche Guatiche. I'm glad you're free this afternoon," he added lamely.

Oh, that was it!

He was the guy from the S-Mart supermarket! The really ugly, nerdy one who'd piqued Grimmjow's attention for a minute after some scrawny kid made fun of his hair. He didn't dare mention he remembered the dude; otherwise he might turn into something like Pesche.

He shuddered. "Uh, take a seat. What brought you here today?" Grimmjow asked.

"I'm here because my god-sister put in a good word for you."

"Who the heck's your god-sister?"

"Neliel Tu Oderschvank."

Grimmjow thanked God that he hadn't drunk water or any other type of beverage. If he had, he'd have spat it all out onto his guest.

"You're _what_?!" he hissed.

"Her god-brother. I know it sounds far-fetched, but it's completely true. She told me… she told me that recently you paid for her car damages, am I correct?"

Grimmjow, shocked, could only nod.

"I really want to thank you for that. She's become… much more unpredictable over the years…" Pesche complained.

"W-What does that mean?" Grimmjow inquired, dumbfounded.

"I was hoping you knew, actually. See, I haven't been in her life for ten straight years. And yeah, while kids grow up they change. But can't you tell when someone changes… because of a tragedy? The change is different from the normal and natural personality changes. They literally become a different person. She… her parents went missing when she was little, and—"

"Wait, _what_?!"

Pesche sighed quietly.

"Yes, she never really had parents growing up. She shared her story with me the other day, which meant she was okay about it now. But then…"

Pesche explained to Grimmjow what his experience with Nel had been like. The way she had stopped so abruptly in her speech… it wasn't normal.

"So…" Grimmjow began, "you're saying that whatever happened in tenth grade was pretty bad."

"Precisely."

"And why do you tell me all this?" the blue-haired man questioned honestly.

"I trust you. You paid her a thousand dollars, Mr. Jaegerjaquez. And besides, I want to help her. If she's not willing to tell me what happened, how can I help her without someone's assistance? It's torturous enough just watching her suffer like that."

Grimmjow pondered, trying to piece things together.

"I think… I think I know where to begin."

#*#*#

That evening, the weekly study session for the girls had really turned into a partying night/sleepover at Rukia's house since many were done with classes. The girls were chatting, and in their hands were glasses of a plethora of different drinks, with alcohol and without. Mr. Byakuya Kuchiki had, after some begging on Rukia's part, allowed the party to take place in his home.

It was also noted that Hiyori did not show up.

_Hmm… so I did do a good job,_ Tatsuki thought to herself.

She analyzed the celebration going on before her eyes, uninterested. Lisa was beyond tipsy at that moment. So were Apache and Mila. It seemed to her that everyone was having a pretty good time… except for Nel.

The green-haired woman sat on the couch by herself, sipping cautiously at what looked like red wine. She smiled occasionally, watching the other participants in the party make fools of themselves. But Tatsuki knew her best friend… something was definitely running through her head.

"Hey," she whispered, walking up to the seated woman.

"Hi, Tatsuki."

"What's on your mind?" she inquired, taking a seat beside her.

"Well uh… can I tell you the truth without you making fun of me? I need to really confide in someone right now," she requested. When Tatsuki nodded in response, the busty woman opened her small lips again.

"I think… I think I'm uh… oh geez, I sound like a loser. I, um–"

"Does this have anything to do with Jaegerjaquez?" Tatsuki asked, sounding shockingly gentle. When her best friend's face heated up, she laughed a bit.

"I guess me and Lisa saw it coming. But you're not done, are you?"

Nel shook her head looking down. "Yeah… you know me too well."

"The car accident?"

"It was with him. H-He paid for my damages, Tats. He gave me a thousand bucks." The green-haired woman sighed, looking a little tipsy as she curled her hair on her finger.

Tatsuki's eyes widened.

"He did _not_."

"H-He did. I mean, the guy is rude sometimes, but underneath it all he's just an ordinary, generous human being. Isn't that… isn't that something relatively normal to be attracted to?" She sipped out of her drink, which then made Tatsuki to wonder if it was because of the wine that made her spill her secret.

Normally, the girl wouldn't have confessed something so… bizarre. The petite woman began to doubt it was even a legitimate confession. But then again, how would her hardly intoxicated being randomly spout out a crush on Jaegerjaquez if it hadn't been somewhat true? The girl wasn't smashed, after all.

So, some part of it had to be true.

Tatsuki had a feeling all of it was.


	18. Chapter 18

**F-bombs. F-bombs everywhere.**

**Not really, lol, but just a heads-up.**

* * *

The next morning, Nel had a small migraine, most likely from the alcohol she had drunk the night before.

"Tatsuki! Next time, remind me that I don't have a strong enough system for alcohol. Ugh, my head."

"Sorry girly," she responded, "I didn't know how drunk you were. But enough to tell me you liked J."

Neliel's cheeks flamed.

"W-What?!" she hollered, mildly embarrassed. "I said I liked Mr. Jaegerjaquez? What other nonsense did I say?"

"You told me the story about the car accident and who paid."

"Oh. Well um, I lied about the liking thing."

"Uh-huh."

Nel groaned. "I swear! Really, I don't like him like that, Tatsuki," she confirmed.

"Neliel," Tatsuki started. "You even gave me some legitimate reasoning behind it. So yeah."

"There is no such thing as legitimate reasoning when it comes to teacher-student relationship stuff. It's just… taboo."

"No one said anything about a relationship, Nel," Tatsuki remarked smartly.

"Ugh, shut up, Tats!"

Later on, the two girls went—with Tatsuki's car, of course—to the Mall SS. With nothing particularly in mind to do, the girls roamed the stores with mild interest until Nel's stomach began to complain at the lack of acknowledgement. They quickly made their way to the food court, ordering at an Asian cuisine restaurant. After receiving their food, the girls found a booth to slide into.

"So…" Tatsuki started. "Me and Hiyori aren't getting along."

Nel raised her eyebrows, pulling out her fork. "Hiyori and I," she absent-mindedly corrected as the petite woman in front of her rolled her onyx eyes. "And just why is that?"

"She thinks you're legit on Kurosaki's dick. It pissed me the hell off. So we uh, settled it out," she explained.

"Civilly? Or like barbarians?" Nel accused. Tatsuki chuckled nervously.

"Um… anyways, I got mad 'cause she'd talk all this shit behind your back! She'd be like, "Oh, damn, Nel's such a fat whore" and shit! All 'cause you got a freaking ride from him the other day!" Tatsuki clenched her fists in fury. "_She's_ the whore!"

"Wait, she actually _said _that? When?!"

Lecture effectively evaded.

"She's been saying it ever since! She's a two-timer, Nel, All this time you thought she was cool with you but she wasn't. God, I hate her so much," she complained.

Nel would've responded had she not laid eyes on a certain pair in the food court.

"Nel…? You… okay?" Tatsuki whispered.

Neliel didn't reply. The duo that held the green-haired woman's interest so deeply made their way to her table.

"Neliel, is that you? God, how are you feeling? Where's Halibel?"

She sat, frozen, her face contorted into something reminiscent of shock, fear, maybe admiration, and sadness.

"Hiya, Nel! Good to see ya looking well since back then."

"S-Starrk… L-Lilynette… hi."

After greeting them, Neliel abruptly rose to her feet, sliding out of the booth, and made way to the mall exit.

"Wait–!" she heard Tatsuki as she called out to her retreating form.

Nel ran until she couldn't run anymore. Her legs burned in agony and her chest heaved, trying to fill her aching lungs. The Mall SS was usually about thirty minutes away from the dorms by car; so trekking all the way back home was out of the question. She'd… she'd call… who would she call?

Neliel knew she was not mentally stable at the moment. She had known that seeing Starrk and Lilynette again would trigger bad memories like the flick of fire at a lighter's end. Hell, seeing Mr. Jiruga did the same. It didn't help that the bad memories were connected and that she didn't know what the memory was.

That was the problem. All these people were triggering bad memories—Halibel Tia, Nnoitra Jiruga, Tesla Lindocruz, and now Coyote Starrk and his companion Lilynette Gingerback—but… she didn't know exactly what bad memories there were to trigger. It was like… her body knew, but her mind didn't, which made the whole situation much scarier. How could one's subconscious know so well… without a _doubt_ that something was wrong, but not know exactly what was?

She trembled slightly, finding a bench to rest on for a while until she calmed herself down, whispering reassuring words to herself. She was going to be okay. She'd wait for a bus. She'd call Rukia to pick her up from the dorms so she'd have some space from Tatsuki until she could think of a believable explanation for her irrational behavior. Yes, that sounded like a good plan.

Too bad that Tatsuki obviously beat Nel home. She had her car, dammit! How did she not include that in her "good plan"?

"Neliel… you have a lot of explaining to do."

The petite black-haired woman sat in a loveseat across from Nel who was curled on the sofa.

"Tatsuki, please… I don't wanna talk about it," she begged.

"You don't wanna talk about it? You don't wanna _talk about it_?!" Tatsuki roared, rage suddenly rising in her body. "For God's sake, Nel, I don't know shit about you but I've known you for three years! You keep every single detail of your life from the people who care most! _Why_?! Why, Nel?!"

The green haired woman shut her eyes in guilt and sadness.

"I don't have to tell anyone a thing."

Silence rang throughout the room as the tension grew to that of almost unbearable.

"Three years, Neliel. _Three fucking years_. When I first met you, you were sulking like a piece of shit and you never explained why." Tatsuki's voice dropped as her eyes narrowed in anger. "I wanted to help you, Nel. I really did. Everybody did. But you shrugged them off, something you do best. And now? I don't have the patience to even look at you anymore. Carry your damn burden by yourself!"

"Fuck you, Tatsuki!" Nel sat up immediately. "Don't you dare speak to me like that again?! You don't have a single freaking idea what I've been through. Did you ever think that maybe my shit wasn't helpable? That you could try as hard as you liked, but you could never change my past?! That _no one _could?!"

The black-haired woman glared.

"Nobody can change the past," she spat. "But it's irrelevant. This is the present."

With that, she stormed out of the doom room, leaving Neliel to gape hopelessly as the piercing silence overtook her.

The next day, Nel woke up to an empty room. Tatsuki had been gone the whole night.

The green-haired woman felt horrible. She could now add "losing a best friend" to her list of sorrows along with Mr. Jiruga's frightening encounter and her behavior towards Mr. Jaegerjaquez.

Ah, the e-mail. There hadn't been a reply to the message yet which made her brain hurt trying to think up an excuse for why.

The school year was over, so maybe he didn't check his mail during his break… yeah right. This was college. Teachers constantly received e-mails from incoming students, current ones, and even alumni.

With a heavy sigh, she pulled herself out of bed and got ready for work.

To say that she was depressed would be an understatement. Nel could barely smile as incoming customers marched through the restaurant doors.

"Welcome to Starbucks," she'd weakly breathe. "What can I getcha?"

Her manager noticed something up as well, and during her lunch break, she called her into her office.

"Neliel, you don't look too fine today," Miss Mayumi hummed. "What's on your mind?"

"Oh, Miss Mayumi," Nel choked, "I've just lost a best friend—not literally; she's alive, but we fought last night. I know it sounds like something a weakling would cry over, but it was just… horrible!"

"Now, now, dear. Don't start to put words in my mouth; you're not weak! Whoever it was must've been quite the friend for it to affect such a strong-hearted woman like you. Don't worry—time will set things straight, okay?" she soothed.

Nel nodded.

"Thanks, Miss Mayumi… I needed someone to talk to. I'll get back to work."

"Don't stress yourself, sweetie. Besides, it's starting to storm, so I think there won't be as much customers to strain you. Feel better," she offered.

Nel bowed slightly in acknowledgement, walking towards her boss's door and removing her presence from the office.

It was storming terribly, Nel noticed as she stood at the front counter. She'd been using public transportation as of late, since she didn't have her car back, and the bus stop was a ways down the road. She _knew_ she should've put her umbrella in her purse!

The green-haired woman hoped the thunderstorm would cease before work ended. But ah, didn't she confess luck wasn't on her side?

Miss Mayumi was right; not many customers came in during the storm, which gave her quite some time to ponder on how she'd go about apologizing to her best friend.

Oh, how she felt sick to the stomach! She'd never even placed herself in Tatsuki's shoes. Of course she'd be pissed if someone close to her kept secrets; anyone would! All this time, everyone was worried sick about her, but nothing she did soothed their consciences! How selfish could she get?!

And that was how three hours later the green-haired woman sulked in the pouring rain, crying profusely as she trotted slowly to the bus stop five minutes walking distance.

She was a complete failure. She wanted to die. Why did she ever believe she could handle everything on her own? What happened in the past wasn't her fault! So why did she behave like it was, forcing the guilt on herself alone?

Because she knew deep down that it was her fault.

"_Neliel?!_"

The woman slowly raised her head from the slouch position it was in, trying to arrange her soaking-wet hair so she could see properly. Her eyes locked on a white car on the nearly deserted road in front of her. And past the dropped passenger window, seated in the driver's seat, was Mr. Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez.


	19. Chapter 19

"Neliel, _what the hell are you doing_?!"

Mr. Jaegerjaquez looked severely pissed.

"H-Hi, Mr. Jaegerjaquez… I was just uh, waiting for the bus…" she trailed off towards the end of her explanation. The woman noticed his lips moving silently as he shut his sharp blue eyes firmly, placing his right arm on the passenger's headrest.

"Why the hell don't you just call someone like a normal person?" he asked, narrowing his now opened eyes.

"I don't have anyone to call… I'm not really getting along with my friends right now; they'd love to see me rot in the rain." She sighed, feeling extremely uncomfortable in the downpour.

The blue-haired man almost rolled his eyes, and after a held-out moment of silence—save for the rain, of course—he geared his car into park.

"Get in the car."

"Why?"

"'Cause I said so."

Neliel would've retorted angrily had her mind not flashed back to the day of the accident. Sure, the guy sounded harsh and rude. But he was trying.

She pursed her lips as to give off the notion that she was contemplating the order. Finally she stood, drenched in water, making her way to the Chrysler.

"Your seats will get ruined," she pointed out.

"Who cares? I can replace 'em later." He pressed a button to unlock the doors. "Get in."

When she didn't move, he sighed.

"_Please_."

Neliel glared at the man in front of her. "Why are you doing this, Jaegerjaquez? Why do you constantly look out for me?"

He shrugged.

"If people need help, I help 'em." He couldn't figure out anything else as a response, and quite frankly, neither did she, so she grasped the handle and pulled open the car door, sliding inside. An audible squeak was released as she sat on the dry leather.

Immediately, the blue-haired man turned his heater up, shifting his car into drive and speeding away from the bus stop.

Nel willed herself over and over not to cry—the rain had been her cover, but now she was in someone else's car. She tried keeping her mind off Tatsuki, busying herself with how many times Mr. Jaegerjaquez's windshield wipers swished per minute. After telling herself it was around forty times—she was positive it was forty—she realized that they weren't going in the USS's direction.

"Um, you're going the wrong way…" Nel murmured as he pulled onto the highway.

"You think I trust you?" Mr. Jaegerjaquez grumbled, flooring the gas pedal. "You'll just get yourself sick all over again if I drop you at home. Besides, I hear you act irrationally these days. Can't leave an insane person by themselves, now."

Nel gasped, temporarily distracted at his last sentence. "Who told ya that?!" she hissed in irritation.

He smirked in response. "Who cares?"

The woman crossed her arms against her damp chest, slightly annoyed. If that had been Hiyori's doing… ooh, what Tatsuki did to her would pale in comparison to what Nel would. She occupied herself by thinking of devious ways to shut the short prick up.

Twenty minutes of loud storming resonated throughout the car. Neliel had been so sidetracked by her roaming thoughts that she didn't realize Mr. Jaegerjaquez pulled up into a driveway until he cut the engine. She looked up at the familiar residence.

"Is this your house?" she gawked, half-feigning shock. The man flicked his head in response before climbing out of his car into the somewhat tame rainfall.

"C'mon."

The pair made their way to the front door quickly and Mr. Jaegerjaquez fumbled with the keys for a second before unlocking and opening his door.

"Welcome to my humble abode," he spat sarcastically. Nel would've laughed if the whole situation hadn't been so… awkward. It finally dawned on her that she was standing inside her (former) instructor's home.

Damn.

"If you take the stairs and go down the hallway on the left, there's a master bedroom in the second door on the right. I advise you to take a shower before you catch pneumonia or some other shit." He stalked off in the opposite direction, probably to the kitchen, as Nel's eyes trailed the elegant staircase. A chandelier hung above her head, lit dimly to light up the house during the rain shower. After staring a bit, she gracefully climbed the stairs and took a left turn into the hallway. She reached the second door on the right hand side and slowly turned the doorknob. When the woman entered the bedroom, she gasped.

The room looked as if no one had been in it for years!

The bed had absolutely no wrinkles whatsoever. Its canopy hung beautifully above it, motionless. The room smelled new, the carpet untainted beneath her bare and damp feet. It was then Nel remembered she was supposed to be taking a shower.

The woman made her way to another door, and when she opened it, she was met with a massive bathroom. The very sight of the bathtub made her laugh in delight, eager to shed her cold and wet clothes.

Clothes… She'd need to find some before she got in the tub.

With an annoyed grunt, the green-haired woman stalked out of the bathroom, perplexed as to what she'd do next. She decided to use common sense and search the finished wood drawers next to the bed. But when she pulled them out, what met her eyes further baffled her.

Yes, there were clothes… but they were _female_ clothes.

"But I thought…" Nel whispered, her thoughts flickering back to what Mila revealed. Sure, the dark-skinned woman had said his brother was dead, but that had nothing to do with a relationship. Maybe he had a girlfriend or something.

But why in the world would he give her directions to this room? Wouldn't his girlfriend like, get jealous?

A small burst of nausea swept through her. _Okay, drop the whole teacher-student thingy._

Either way, it didn't seem like anyone went in the room at all. Then again, what kind of dry idiot banned his girlfriend to a separate room?

Frankly put, she was getting tired of her indecisiveness and settled on wearing the clothes; her body was trembling from the wet cold lashing at her skin. She moved to the bathroom and stripped herself of the offending material, rotating the faucet knobs for warm water. The bath soon filled and she gracefully sunk in, sighing as her muscles relaxed and her body ceased its shivering.

Fifteen minutes passed, and Nel willed herself to end her bath before she'd turn into a prune. The sloshing sound of draining water met her ears as she lifted herself out of the tub, drying herself down with a nearby towel. She briefly inspected her vibrant hair for knots, though she didn't find any.

_Maybe I still have some luck in me left,_ she thought to herself while dressing herself in a black cowl neck sweater and jeans. If she did find any knots later, she'd just take them out with her travel comb, no biggie.

With one quick breath, the green-haired woman hauled herself out of the mysterious room and down the stairs to face her Good Samaritan, questions eager to be spilled from her tongue. When she entered the dining room and found him in the kitchen, she paused and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, you're back?" he asked simply.

She nodded, about to open her mouth and interrogate. He beat her to it.

"I got your e-mail the other day."

She folded her arms and stayed silent, looking anywhere but his face. He opened his fridge and rummaged through it.

"What was the meaning? You acted like I was offended or something," he stated distractedly.

Nel then stared intently at the man.

"Offended or not, it wasn't civil of me."

"So you thought I'd hold it against you?" he questioned, meeting her gaze.

"You gave me _a thousand dollars_. Wouldn't you feel a little annoyed without a thanks?" She narrowed her eyes at him, shifting her weight to her left hip.

The blue-haired man stayed silent, blinking at the woman, baffled. A loud laugh soon pierced the stillness as he grabbed at his chest in hysterics. Nel's eyes widened at the scene.

"What's so funny?"

"You." He slammed the fridge door. "Who gives a shit about "thanks"? It's a damn _word_, not a reward," he spoke.

"It's _polite_," she snapped. "Whether the person cares or not doesn't matter."

"But it does, doesn't it? If the person didn't care, you'd find other ways to thank 'em besides tellin' 'em. That way, you'd get a load off your shoulders, right Neliel?"

Words died on the girl's lips as her eyes doubled in size.

"W-What?" she stammered, shocked. He smiled sourly.

"Take a seat. I'd like to talk to you about some things."


	20. Chapter 20

If Nel had ever been stunned, it would've been then.

Was she… was she _this_ obvious to people?

Too startled to disobey, the green-haired woman plopped into the nearest chair. Her object of attention sauntered to a seat across from her. He placed his elbows on the table, resting his chin on top of his overlapping hands.

"First off, I'd like to applaud you of your sense of… integrity, I may say. Many people wouldn't raise a finger when it comes to respecting others, but clearly you make an effort to put people above yourself. But there is something bothering me. Forgive me if I am treading fine lines."

She hadn't recovered from the first shock of reality. People… people could read her like a book. A book! That's what Tatsuki did, right? Tatsuki knew she was keeping way too many secrets, but Nel believed she was better off by herself. But she wasn't. And Tatsuki knew it. Tatsuki knew the girl couldn't hold herself up alone.

She nodded hesitantly to egg him on.

"Um, well, I couldn't help but notice that there seems to be some kind of… tension between you and Nnoitra Jiruga. Are you… are you alright?"

She searched his face for any wavering expression, but found none. The guy was serious.

And she slowly felt herself beginning to trust him.

"No, I'm not. Not at all."

She surprised both herself and Mr. Jaegerjaquez at her blunt statement. Perhaps she was expecting herself to deny it.

But it was time to stop running away from the past. Tatsuki said so, right?

Yes, it was time to let it all out… and Nel actually didn't mind telling the man in front of her.

"I… I don't even know what really happened myself." She averted her gaze from his eyes to her folded hands on the table as she proceeded to tell him her past… from losing her parents to how Nnoitra Jiruga kidnapped her that day in the high school parking lot.

"H-He knew I didn't have a permanent home. He said he had a place for me to stay if I could rent it out. I wasn't working a lot—I was in 10th grade—so I told him no thanks. And then–"

Her voice caught in her throat as her eyes glistened with tears. She blinked them away and continued, strained.

"I-I think… I t-think he raped me…" She buried her face in her hands.

So she had been deceiving herself this whole time. Oh God. She'd lost her virginity to the man she feared and loathed the most in her life. She couldn't remember, but she _knew_ she was right.

Across from her, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez seethed in rage. He'd guessed that much.

Oh, the bastard was gonna get it when he saw him next.

He gave her a couple of seconds, his face emotionless and cold in the silence.

"I… I know he did… b-but… I… I can't recall…"

Her shoulders shook as she held her face in her palms.

"I don't know why either! I should remember something like that… why don't I?" she whispered.

The blue-haired man stayed silent, unmoving.

"A-And Tesla… oh, I w-wasn't supposed to t-talk to him! Otherwise, h-he'd… he'd…"

The tears were freely running down Neliel's face. She lifted her head to look Mr. Jaegerjaquez straight in the eyes.

"Why can't I… _remember_?!"

Her voice was almost inaudible as she mouthed each syllable slowly, her golden eyes rounded, wet, and bloodshot.

Mr. Jaegerjaquez's expression mended into that of alarm.

"Neliel, it doesn't matter if you don't remember. At all. You don't need to remember shit like that. Calm down, okay? I'm… sorry I brought it up."

What was he turning into?!

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez _never_ apologized, to _anyone_!

So why was she so different?

"N-no…" she stammered. "I've been lying to myself too long… I needed someone to talk to… you… you don't have a clue as to how… grateful I am for you. I… I'm not okay. But I'm doing better… and it only goes higher once you hit rock bottom, right?"

Mr. Jaegerjaquez didn't respond.

"Well, you've heard my story," she admitted, laughing in spite as she cleared her tears with the sleeve of her sweater. "Not everyone has a happy ending…"

"You're alive," he pointed out. "That's a happy ending."

"I-I guess… if it wasn't for Ms. Tia and Starrk and Lilynette, I don't know if I would be here right now…"

That was right.

Halibel Tia had sent Starrk and Lilynette to infiltrate Nnoitra Jiruga's premises to get her out.

But… why did she?

Nel knew she had been involved with Mr. Jiruga. She had seen her in his compound once or twice, and every time they locked eyes, Ms. Tia's reflected remorse.

"Tia got you outta that hell-hole."

"She sent Starrk and Lilynette to get me. I don't know why she did it…"

"She did it because she knew your parents."

Neliel started blankly at the man across the table from her.

"W-What?!"

"Tia knew your parents. She was a friend of your mother's. Do you know why they disappeared?" he asked quietly.

She shook her head, a sick feeling making its way into her throat.

"They… they were all in some bad business. It… caught up with them, I could say. Tia… Tia watched them…" He stopped, scrutinizing the girl for any signs of rage, discomfort, fear, or extreme sorrow.

"They're dead, I know. I've been lying to myself for a while… I know they're long gone."

"Your mother told Tia to watch over you as you grew up. Neliel, she watched them being tortured to death. Please, if it's the last thing you do, _trust her_. She… she blames herself for their deaths. She can't bring herself to look at you anymore without feeling guilty and depressed. Can you forgive her?"

Nel gazed silently at Mr. Jaegerjaquez, her lip trembling slightly.

"W-Why should I forgive her… when there's nothing to forgive?" she whispered. Mr. Jaegerjaquez let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"T-Thank you, Neliel."

"_Mr. Jaegerjaquez."_

_Halibel Tia looked straight at the man whose attention she flagged._

"_What?"_

"_We need to talk."_

_She pulled him into her classroom._

"_Neliel… you need to confront her as soon as possible. Something's going to happen soon. I don't know what, but that bastard Jiruga's planning some shit," she roughly whispered._

"'_The hell?! Why?"_

"'_Cause life hates me. Did you know… that her parents died because of me?"_

_Mr. Jaegerjaquez's eyes doubled in size._

"_Excuse me?!"_

"_Eight years ago. I was twenty-three." She sighed. "All three of us went out just for the hell of it when… a rivaling company of ours sent out assassins. Jaegerjaquez, I used to deal drugs. And they wanted to know some of our company's secrets, but I wouldn't tell them. They took… her parents, and… oh my God…"_

_She didn't finish, instead bowing her head, sobbing uncontrollably. She had finally told somebody._

"_They what, Tia?" he asked quietly._

"_They tossed 'em in a deserted alley… then doused them with gas, and lit them on fire. And held me at gunpoint and threatened to shoot if I even twitched the wrong way. A-And they told me... they forced me to watch…"_

_She choked._

"_And then, when I dated that… _creature_, I didn't know he had her in his grasp. Until it was too late. He's a trafficker, Jaegerjaquez. Him and that bastard Tesla Lindocruz. They knew I was a retired drug dealer—I stopped after Neliel's parents' deaths—and they threatened to snitch to authorities if I got in the way of their plans. Of course that would mean they'd be exposed too, but I wasn't selfless enough to sacrifice my freedom for Neliel's. I managed to snatch her away before something devastating happened, but he'd already instilled some emotional stress in her by then."_

_She grabbed his shirt forcefully, meeting his gaze evenly with tears cascading down her face._

"_And her mother's last fucking words were to protect Neliel. Do you know how _painful_ it is to watch someone shrieking in agony to save their daughter? And then, you still fail them and their daughter gets harmed? All because of your selfishness?!"_

_Grimmjow didn't utter a word._

"_I will _kill _you, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, if you think this is some sick, twisted game of hit-and-run. Do not open Neliel's wounds if you don't plan on staying to help 'em heal. And if you allow Nnoitra to lay a _finger_ on her because you even blinked too slowly, so help me God, you will not live to see the bastard pay for his shit. Do you _hear me_?!" she growled, twisting the man's shirt in her fist._

"…_I got you, Tia. Don't worry about a thing."_

Mr. Jaegerjaquez sighed at the memory from earlier that morning.

"You will be setting her free if you tell her she's forgiven. She's the reason foster care didn't come after you, Nel. She wanted to adopt you, but deemed herself unworthy of it, so she simply watched and waited. You're not the only one who needs help," he stated.

Nel digested the information that had been thrown in her face unexpectedly.

Halibel Tia was basically her mother.

The woman had been watching Nel since the day her parents died, and Nel knew nothing of it.

"I owe my own life to this woman," Nel whispered. "I would've died in Mr. Jiruga's hands…"

"You don't owe her anything, and she doesn't owe you either. Clean slate, no shit: That's the way it should be."

Neliel pondered on his input for a couple of minutes before laughing humorlessly and changing the subject.

"Jaegerjaquez, I couldn't help but notice that, uh, those clothes upstairs don't fit your style."

He sighed.

"A story for a damn story I guess."


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Oooh, my favorite chapterrrr. Hahaha.**

* * *

"It was about… seven years ago, back when I was your age… oh damn, those were some bad years. Anyways, I had met a woman by the name of Reina Kichida here at USS, back when I went to school here. The bitch had it good, let's put it that way, but I never really… saw us more than friends, you know? At first we were pretty tight and shit, but she developed this… obsession with me. And it made things pretty awkward. To make it worse, my older brother Seiichi had a soft spot for her.

"So here I am, in the middle of a ridiculous love triangle with my sibling and a questionable best friend, trying to live a normal college life without people breathing down my back. I got so pissed one day that I just exploded and went on a rant… it was terribly inappropriate and unacceptable, and the use of language in my angry monologue was definitely words you should not use around a decent, respectable woman. Oh, how pissed Seiichi was when Reina informed him of my outburst in tears. It was enough for him to never talk to me again.

"They got together shortly after my brother and I cut connections, and I was invited to their wedding, but did not show.

"Two years later, after not seeing or hearing from my brother, I received a letter in the mail from their butler—he explained to me that Seiichi wasn't feeling well and that Reina had disappeared, most likely back to her parents.

"I fought with myself for two months. Should I care that my biological brother was dying? Why would the butler send me such a message if Seiichi hated me? I soon found my answer.

"Seiichi was in the hospital hooked up to many machines by the time I made a decision to visit him. It was very tense; he nodded in acknowledgement when he saw me enter his room, and I succeeded in hiding my sudden sadness, pity, and regret when I beheld his face. Two long, damn years… and now he was dying?

"He struggled to speak, but I made out his words. He was apologizing… for being immature back then… he managed to say that there was no reason for us to have not kept in touch—we were family, right? He said he knew that Reina had loved me, even when he married her, and he knew that the second something went wrong, she would flee.

"He had gestured to the coffee table next to his bed where a paper sat, folded neatly. I picked it up and opened it… it was his will.

"He wanted me to claim ownership of his mansion and his stocks. The home was already paid off, so I didn't have to worry, he said. Just… take care of the home; that was all.

"I didn't speak to him until the end of the visit... he asked me if everything was alright… I merely laughed in spite before whispering, "how about you ask yourself that?" He smiled painfully before heaving a sigh, murmuring about how he wished to die sooner so the agony would leave him. I simply stared at him before whispering a last good-bye and leaving the hospital room before he had the privilege of seeing me cry like an idiot."

Mr. Jaegerjaquez sighed. "And so now here I am, rotting away in my dead brother's property. Isn't it lovely?" He rolled his eyes.

"Mr. Jaegerjaquez, don't speak like that. It's a privilege that your brother would pass his possessions to you."

"But I don't deserve it!" he cried. "I… I don't deserve it at all. Maybe that's why I'm so eager to help you out. So that it will measure up…" he whispered.

"We all make mistakes, you've got to realize that," Nel spoke softly. "If you don't forgive yourself, you'll never 'measure up.' Maybe your brother, maybe Seiichi knew this. Do you realize how considerate you are now? You help people out, and I've experienced that first hand. Maybe he knew that if the money went to you and not the bank or some charity organization, he was getting the best out of it. You are really thoughtful now, and selfless. I'm not saying he's using you to benefit others; he's showing you that you both are equal. You made a mistake; he made a mistake. So let it go, and just forgive yourself."

Grimmjow stared hard at Neliel.

"Forgive myself…?" He said it as if it were something he'd never considered. "…that's preposterous."

"You just told me 'clean slate, no shit!' It makes you a hypocrite if you don't," Nel accused with a smile.

"I guess," he responded, returning her smile. The precious moment was ruined by Nel's stomach speaking up.

"Oops," she murmured, laughing.

"If you cannot already tell by my appearance, I happen to be a terrible cook. So I'll just hit up Pizza Hut."

"Eating out constantly isn't good for your body... which, for me, contradicts with your appearance quite a bit there."

Grimmjow put his phone to his ear. "So you think I'm lying?"

Nel smiled. "Not necessarily. Your metabolism rate is probably really high."

"As high as I am on the attractive scale?" He winked at her, which she rolled her eyes at, but flushed red nonetheless. The restaurant then connected with Grimmjow, as he then began giving orders. When he hung up, she spoke.

"Where is the butler now?"

Grimmjow shrugged. "I got rid of all the help that came with the mansion... I thought it was wasteful to have so many people trying to run this place full function. The only thing I kept was a maid who drops by twice a week now."

"So if you don't have a butler, what do you eat? Just restaurant food?" Nel asked, her eyes following him as he got up and headed toward the kitchen.

"Pretty much."

"That's so terrible!" she exclaimed.

"You don't see me drowning in my own fat now, do you?" He asked pointedly.

"Well, no. But still... it's just not good." She followed behind him.

"Are you worried or something?"

"Of course not," she replied. "I could never worry about such a ridiculous human being."

Grimmjow passed through the doorway of the kitchen to a living room easily bigger than an entire apartment flat with a flat screen TV that could almost put a cinema to shame.

"Lucky I'm not one to get offended easily... you could've gotten thrown out just now for that." He turned to her with a playful smile.

"Really..." Neliel breathed. She reached the black leather sofa and plopped on it. "Then I guess you won't be offended when I say I'm not impressed with this room."

Grimmjow sat down next to her, not too far away to be awkward and not too close to seem too forward.

Too forward? This wasn't a date.

"You're not? Bummer, because impressing you was my entire plan," he responded sarcastically.

"You failed the second I saw the television," she continued, ignoring his satirical tone. "Bad for your eyes."

"Bad for my eyes?" Grimmjow asked, scoffing. "Nothing is bad for my eyes unless it's some color changer. Besides," he added, stretching, "You're talking to a man who sits at his laptop all day. This ain't even shit." He swiped a hand over his face. "And I already wear contacts."

"You don't have 20/20 vision? Tsk, tsk, what a shame," Nel reprimanded with a look of mock regret.

"Hey. I look pretty damn good with glasses on. Just drop me in an internet cafe with a cup of espresso in my hands and I'm the greatest looking hipster alive." Grimmjow reached for the remote next to him.

"My word, you never stop about how you're the greatest this and greatest that," Nel complained.

"I mean, would you like me to lie?"

"I mean, would you like to quit your egotistical bullshit?"

"Wow, harsh, aren't we?" Grimmjow stated as he flipped through the channels on the giant television.

"Stop!" she exclaimed. Grimmjow froze his fingers. On the screen was Pretty Little Liars.

"You've got to be kidding me," he groaned, punching in the numbers for another channel. On came ESPN with the latest NBA game.

"Nope, you have to be courteous to your guests." In a fluid motion, Nel had swiped the remote from Grimmjow's fingers and hit "Recall." Aria Montgomery and Hanna Marin's faces lit up the screen.

"My house—excuse me, my _mansion_, my rules." Nel anticipated his reach for the remote, and she tightened her grip on it, but Grimmjow was just too strong, and the remote was whisked away from her fingers. The channel flipped once again to the sweaty men in gym outfits dancing skillfully on the court.

"You are not allowed to do that to a lady!" she cried, stretching her arm around Grimmjow's midsection to hit the recall button, since she figured actually obtaining the remote would be far-fetched. Pretty Little Liars returned to the screen.

"Neliel, oh my God—"

"No!" she laughed, gripping the wrist of the hand the remote was in. He swiftly grabbed the remote out of his hand into the other.

"Rule Number One: No Ridiculous Chick Dramas!" A basketball swooshed straight into the net. Nel grasped his arm but he held the remote out of her reach. She sat up, kneeling on the couch, struggling to wrench the remote out of his hand.

"It is not ridiculous! If you'd sit down to watch it, you'd understand that!" she pointed out, frustrated at the size difference of them both. She stood up to have the advantage.

"If I sat down to watch it, I think I'd kill myself," Grimmjow fought back, also standing up. Nel was significantly shorter than him, even as she gave her toes the workout of their existence.

"Just give it!"

"Nope!"

She latched on to the base of his arm, her fingers barely reaching halfway around his biceps. In one quick motion she bounced on the couch and hung onto his wrist. Immediately, he loosened his grip on the remote and let it fly halfway across the room, fortunately for her, in her direction. Without hesitation, the both of them made a beeline for the remote, with Nel slightly ahead...

And in a split second, her toe caught underneath the pretty royal blue rug lying on the ground. She soon became really acquainted with that rug lying on the ground.

Everything after that split second was a bit of a blur; she saw herself falling sideways towards the ground, closed her eyes, felt the impact, opened them again, and there he was, awkwardly molded on top of her body.

The basketball game and remote were totally forgotten.

He stared at her, and then she watched his eyes drop to her lips. They were parted, as she was breathing heavily. She studied his face, the perfect slope of his nose and the curve of his jawline and his beautiful, beautiful eyelashes, which were tilted down. His face was so close, and their noses were touching, and...

"Grimmjow," she whispered. Just as the doorbell rang.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Freaking longg chapter lol.**

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"That must be the pizza," Nel said absentmindedly as Grimmjow quickly hoisted himself off her, eager to run from the awkward situation. When he disappeared behind the corner, she let out a big breath and stood up, running a hand through her long green hair. She decided she was going to French-braid it. Halfway through, the voices she heard at the other end of the mansion ceased.  
"Pizza's here," Grimmjow's voice reached.  
"Okay! Just one second," she responded, still at work with her hair. Her thoughts roamed to what had just occurred. She'd almost kissed her teacher!  
Well, he wasn't her teacher anymore. So technically it wasn't a big deal. But the fact that he was, the fact that at one point in time she'd sat in his classroom, listening intently to his lectures on corporate business life... It just made her feel weird inside.  
And a little bit giddy.  
Nel tied the bottom of her braid with her black elastic and stood. She tugged on it, messed with a few strands, and walked towards the dining room. On the large grandeur wooden finished table was a box of extra large pizza, a two liter bottle of Coke, two glasses, and plates.  
"Dinner is served," Grimmjow mumbled, swiping the glasses off the table and heading in the direction of the kitchen.  
"Thanks, I really appreciate it," Nel spoke, unsure of using his first name or last name to address him. The refrigerator unit sang as it released ice cubes into the glasses Grimmjow had in his hands.  
"No problem. I hope you like pepperoni," he offered absentmindedly, switching glasses.  
"Yeah, that's great," she replied, opening the box. The warm smell of melted cheese hit her nose immediately. Nel gave a smile.  
"So, am I waiting for you, or?" Her hand hesitated inside the box. Grimmjow chuckled, walking towards the table.  
"Nah, go right ahead. It was your stomach growling earlier, not mine."  
Awkward tension successfully released.  
The blue haired man set a glass halfway filled with ice on Nel's side of the table. She opened the two-liter soda bottle and poured some into her glass before recapping it and handing it to her host. She slid into her seat then, content with the meal in front of her, and dug in. It was a couple moments of silence between them before her world spun again.  
"So you trust me, right?" Grimmjow asked. Neliel looked up and met his gaze.  
"Yes, I do."  
"Well, I have uh, enough evidence to say what I'm about to." He sat up. "I'm afraid Nnoitra isn't... done with you."  
Nel searched his vibrant blue eyes for any clues, anything to tell her he was joking. But she trusted him, and she wanted to trust him, and he wouldn't play with her like that. Not something so serious.  
"I beg your pardon?"  
"Halibel... you know how good she is with this kind of stuff. Always working behind the scenes. Or something like that. Anyways, she thinks Nnoitra will act soon. On what, I have no idea. How? Beats me. I'm left in the dark as much as you were supposed to be." He lifted his glass to his lips.  
"He wants to hurt me. He wants to break me."  
Grimmjow eyed Neliel warily, disapproving of her vocabulary.  
"Nel—"  
"No. I know him. I stood up to him at Starbucks the day of the car accident. He didn't like that at all. He probably thinks that I'm not scared of him anymore and that I've grown a backbone and he wants to ruin that."  
"But, Neliel... are you scared of him?"  
She looked away, her arms shielding her face from his piercing gaze.  
"Grimmjow, I'm terrified," she whispered softly. The first name instinctively rolled off her tongue and didn't bother her in the slightest.  
"Don't be," he responded. "He can't do a thing to you."  
"Yes he can. Oh yes he can." Nel turned her face back around from being hidden by her arms. Locking eyes with Grimmjow, however, was not an option. She studied the uneaten half of pizza on her plate as she spoke.  
"When I had him as my teacher—"  
"He taught you?"  
"My freshman and sophomore years in college. And I couldn't participate in class because he'd just make me stay after class and taunt me, and tell me how I wouldn't be there without his help. He'd tell me I survived because of him, and that I owe him my everything. And he said I didn't really have a choice actually; he owned me whether I liked it or not, he said. In ways more complex than imaginable. And the worst part is that I believed every single word. And Grimmjow... I still kind of do."  
He was speechless, so she continued.  
"I begged him for an A average once. Knees and everything. It was rightfully my A and I'd earned it... but no, it was his A because I belonged to him, and he could do whatever he so well pleased with it. I pleaded over and over. I stayed in his classroom over two hours that day. And he gave me the A. It's just... he made me do it all so I knew who was in charge and who would be, always. He ruined my pride that day, which I'm not even big on, actually; my ego is always in check... but it did its damage on my self-esteem. And he loves that. He loves to see me submissive and broken and weak. It's a high he's addicted to. And I have no choice but to give it to him, every time... because I don't know how to not give it to him. It's just one long, perpetual cycle."  
"Oh my God, Neliel. What else has he done to you?"  
Nel picked a pepperoni slice off her pizza and chewed.  
"He's um, well... sophomore year I think, I was walking in the hallway, it was before night classes, but day classes were long over... not sure where I was headed, but anyways I turned the corner, and there he was..." She flushed bright red, then. "And he pushed me against the wall, and grabbed my crotch... and I remember being so afraid yet so damn angry. And I hit him in the face and told him to never touch me again, and he scoffed and said something like he'd already touched me and tainted me so much he was tired of it. And I didn't understand what he was talking about. Or I understood but... my memories didn't add up to that statement, and still don't, so I believed it false. Now, I think I was probably drugged. That would explain so much my fleeting nightmares that make no sense."  
Grimmjow ran a hand through his wild blue hair, inhaling deeply.  
"Wow, okay."  
There was more silence.  
"So you don't know when he's gonna find me?"  
"If I knew, I would've told you."  
"I can't stand him anymore," Nel said. "I literally can't. I will crumble if I have to face him again. Starbucks... Oh man, at Starbucks, I was like a different person. I don't know how I did it and how I could ever do it again."  
"Neliel, Halibel and I don't plan to leave you on your own to face him," Grimmjow informed her. "We're both gonna keep an eye on you and him for a while. Well, mostly on him because it's easier that way."  
She sighed. "I see."  
"Who's Tesla?" He asked. Nel thought for a moment before answering.  
"Tesla Lindocruz is this guy not much older than me, and he was involved with Nnoitra too but Nnoitra didn't sell him off... he just, I don't know, he just decided Tesla would be more of a benefit by his side instead of the money he'd make off of him. The same with me. He liked the way I was always so scared of him, so he kept me around. But Tesla... Tesla was something different.  
"Tesla liked being bossed around and ordered to do things. He didn't mind at all. He just did as he was told, no fight or anything. And I think that's why Nnoitra kept him. He's so loyal, and that's why he is there, by his side, and not free with me."  
"Starrk and Lilynette... how did they get you out?"  
"Well, Nnoitra let me have a little bit of freedom. It was to mess with my mind and I knew that. I had a tracker chip injected in me and I went to school like any normal tenth grader, for the most part. And that's why I was always so depressed and down—freedom was right there, like wind brushing against my face. I couldn't run away; I'd just get caught. Some nights I was allowed to just take a walk around the town. He did it just so that I'd know how close freedom was, and not know how it really felt. It was all a tease. It wasn't until I ran across Starrk and Lilynette that everything actually started to fall into place. They said they were good friends of Halibel. They found me one night wandering around the town and yanked me aside and told me I'd soon be away from Nnoitra. I laughed at them. I laughed _so_ hard. Then I asked them if they were sent by Nnoitra to make everything worse. In the end, with Halibel's help, they busted me out.  
"Because of my first encounter with Starrk and Lilynette, I had known things were looking up and it prompted me to ask Tesla if he'd ever thought of leaving, just to include him in the plan. It was just the two of us chatting as we walked home from school, and he looked at me like I had grown two heads. He said it had never crossed his mind, never ever. So I kept him out of the loop and he's still Nnoitra's grip. If it's what he wants, then he should have it."  
With her pizza done and the remaining quarter of her Coke watered down, Nel stretched and made way to clear her dishes.  
"It's alright," Grimmjow interjected. "I've got it."  
"Oh... thanks."  
He disappeared with her dishes and she stood up and stretched.  
"Would you like a tour around the house?" he asked softly.  
"Oh, that would be nice," Nel admitted.  
A couple minutes later and Grimmjow had taken her past his living room to a closed door in the nearest hallway.  
"This is the game room," he spoke. She looked at the countless game systems stacked neatly in the glass cabinet next to a well-sized television. Another set of three cabinets held practically a wall of the nearest GameStop store. A ping-pong table was pushed against the wall, with a pool table adjacent to it. The room was overwhelming. Nel looked over her shoulder and realized Grimmjow was walking away. She followed.  
"If you thought my living room was bad, check this out," he said, giving her a lopsided grin. His hand turned the knob of the door in front of him and stepped inside. There were two doors inside the small corridor, to their left and in front. She followed Grimmjow through the front door into an enormous room with four rows of four theater seats each. Grimmjow tapped a button on the wall next to him and with a machine-like grunt, a massive projector screen slowly journeyed down many feet in front of them.  
"I have a control room too, c'mon," he said, walking up to a door along the same wall. He opened the door and headed up a small staircase immediately to his left. Nel followed.

"I own four projectors, but I only use this one, since it's the least outdated," he said, pointing to a fancy, high-tech looking digital projector in the center of the small room. "My oldest one is that one, it's an antique." Behind them rested a large projector with a roll of film hooked up to it.

"_Forty Guns_," Grimmjow stated. "It's been attached to the projector ever since I bought it." They walked to the other side of the room and exited using another small set of stairs, opening the door to be back once again in the small corridor between the theater room and the rest of the house.

Nel discovered his study, his endless guest rooms, a random computer room, his gym, his balcony, and even a pool and jacuzzi that could be indoor with just a flip of a switch. She was trying to grasp just how much everything would cost—just as Grimmjow surprised her once again.

It was a regular room he opened up, completely bare of any color, its white-washed walls soothing and peaceful. A single window, shut to the rain and the arrival of night faced them. And in the middle of the room, was a solid black grand piano.

Grimmjow brightened the dimmed lights in the room with a wall switch and continued inside, softly resting his hand on the side of the instrument.

"You... play?" Neliel whispered. He chuckled, sliding onto the bench. "Just a little. Seiichi was the more talented one of us. Don't tell anyone; I can't have people knowing the big, bad master of all things masculine has a soft side," he joked, opening the fall board. "Come sit."

Nel sat down on Grimmjow's right. "When did you start playing?"

"Eh, it was a kid thing," he commented, beginning a beautiful melody on the keys. "When we were little we were put in music classes just to be exposed to it. I actually really like classical music now. I'm pretty sure it's because of this." His hands danced gracefully across the keyboard. "Seiichi pursued music, though. Once I hit secondary school, I slowed down on it and started looking more into computer technology."

It was silent for a while, save for the smooth combination of the piano keys molding into a song.

"Seiichi was the best at jazz. I'd love to play jazz as good as him." The style of the melody suddenly changed, a bit more syncopated. "If I'm not listening to classical music, it's jazz." Nel watched his hands bounce back and forth across the keys for a while, and then the music slowed, bringing the classical style back.

"I think the worst part of being musically inclined is that you can never escape. In theory that's great and all, especially for the big conductors and the famous instrumentalists and musicians out there, but me? I'm interested in other things than music... yet here I am. I can't get away from this thing, no matter how interesting and intriguing technology is to me. I'll always come running back to feel the keys under my fingers." He ended his masterpiece. "It's like selling your soul."

Nel watched Grimmjow close his eyes and give a soft sigh before meeting her gaze.

"If that's what it's like, then I wish I'd sold my soul," she whispered, not looking away from his cyan eyes. They seemed to stare right through her, as if they could read her mind.

"Really?" he murmured. "Save your soul for something worthwhile."

With his face inches from her own, she whispered something that shocked the both of them.

"Think I've found it."

Her lips met his, warm and soft. He didn't move at first, then, she felt his hands cup her cheeks, his thumbs rubbing her soft skin. She felt his tongue brush her lip, and instinctively opened her mouth. His tongue danced with hers, a fleeting game of tag. She broke away for air and leaned her forehead against his.

"I will never let Nnoitra touch you ever again."

* * *

**Damn, this was probably the most challenging chapter I've written for any story in my entire life. Oh my gosh. Lol. Review, I'd like to see how well I did lol. Thanks for sticking with this story! It's about to get good, lmao.**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: If you thought the last one was long, lol you've got a giant on your hands here. The next chapter after this may be uploaded a while from now, I'm kinda busy this week, and then next week I'm traveling out of state for a month. I'll definitely upload during that month, don't get me wrong lol, but I won't have as much time to write some more as I do now. Sorry about that, lol. Especially because this chapter's a bit of a cliff hanger lmao.**

* * *

Neliel stirred. Her bed felt softer than she'd last remembered. Plus, it was summertime. So why was her heater on?  
With a groggy realization, it dawned on her that even if her heater was on, she'd feel it on _every_ side, not just her left. And definitely not the strongest under her covers. She turned her head and realized that she had a guest, sleeping soundly next to her. No, wait. _she_ was the guest. This was Grimmjow's bed.  
What happened last night?!  
Neliel panicked for a split second, having had a little difficulty recalling the night before. But now she remembered. She'd only went to sleep. She stayed because she wasn't sure Tatsuki was back in her dorm or even wanted to see her yet, and Nel didn't want to be alone at home for now. She remembered Grimmjow grinning wildly at her, promising not to try anything as she accompanied him in his bed.  
Neliel took in his sleeping form next to her. His face looked relaxed, yet his eyebrows seemed as if they were trying to prove otherwise. He slept on his arm, facing her. The comforter was spread across his shoulder, but when Nel shifted a little, the cover gathered lower, revealing his shirtless body.  
Wow.  
Neliel knew that Grimmjow was attractive, and she knew that he was very muscular, and she had acknowledged these two facts a very long time ago. But it was so much more different actually being face to face with it–er, him. It was like staring at a perfect sculpture.  
"Like what you see?"  
Too occupied with staring at his chest, Nel had not noticed her object of attention was now awake. She raised her eyes to meet his blue orbs, shining at her expense, accompanied with his classic cocky smile, displaying a perfect set of pearly whites. She flushed red, awfully embarrassed.  
Grimmjow chuckled, stretching.  
"D-Don't be ridiculous."  
"Ridiculous? Of course not. You'd have to be ridiculous to _not_ stare at all this," he boasted, climbing out of the king sized bed. Nel groaned. Grimmjow reached onto his dresser and opened his contacts container. All the while his back was to her... and she really had a hard time peeling her gaze away from him.  
Neliel would never have thought that one day she would have an issue with keeping her eyes off someone.  
And, wasn't she just proving Lisa and Tatsuki right if she did have a thing for him? Oh Lord.  
Crap. Tatsuki.  
Neliel slid out of the bed and reached on the other dresser for her purse. Inside, she found her phone and fished it out, instantly turning it on. A press of a button and she had three unread texts, five missed calls, and two voicemails from Tatsuki, one unread text from Orihime, and two from Lisa. She read Tatsuki's first.  
'Nel, sorry for how I acted earlier and how I just left suddenly but I really needed to cool down and I know I didn't say anything about being gone the night but I'm ready to talk whenever you are.'  
'Nel, are you being held overtime at Starbucks? It's like, 9 and I thought your shift ends at 5.'  
'OK I'm sorry for everything just don't repeat what I did, please just tell me where you are so I know you're okay if you don't wanna come home... It's midnight and you don't even have your car and I'm worried just text me back ASAP'  
And Orihime's.  
'Hi, Nel, Tatsuki says she's been trying to reach you and you aren't responding, text me so I know you're okay.'  
And Lisa's.  
'Dammit, Nel, where are you? I hope I wasn't supposed to pick you up from Starbucks, shit, it was raining and I prob was supposed to, lol oops'  
'Nel this isn't funny it's like 11, you're supposed to be home by now and you don't have a car so where could you possibly be, hit me up and tell me where u are at least'  
Whoops.  
"What's going on?" Grimmjow noticed Nel's intense glare on the electronic in her hands and he walked around the bed to where she stood stunned at whatever she was looking at.  
"My friends, they had all been trying to reach me last night but my phone was off," she explained. He took it from her hands and swiped through. Instantly she racked her brain for any texts she wouldn't want him to see. Fortunately, Tatsuki and Lisa did all their teasing face-to-face.  
Grimmjow whistled.  
"Wow, looks pretty bad," he remarked, making a face.  
"I know. I can't believe I didn't have my phone on. I didn't even think about my phone at all. Crap, they must be so worried."  
"Call them, and tell them... you're on your way," he said distractedly, his voice uneven.  
"You'll take me back now?"  
"Sure, just call them first so they know you're alive," he suggested with a small grin.  
"I kinda need my phone for that," she spat, holding her hand out. Grimmjow slipped the phone back to her, having already dialed Tatsuki.  
"I guess this girl's the one who's the most troubled," he commented, beginning to walk away. Nel put her phone to her ear.  
"Neliel, oh my God." Tatsuki's voice sounded relieved on the line.  
"Sorry, my phone was off—"  
"Don't you ever do that again! You scared all of us!" she exclaimed.  
"You left me an entire night without telling me where you went too!" Nel countered.  
"Nel, I have a _car_. Who knows where you went? You could've been kidnapped!"  
"Well, I wasn't."  
"Where are you, anyway?" Tatsuki asked. Nel blushed.  
"That'll come later. I'm on my way back, okay? I'll be at home in a little bit, then we can talk."  
"Fair enough. See you then."  
"Bye."  
Neliel ended the call...  
"Grimmjow, what the hell," she barked. Where a background photo of Nel and Rukia at a parade once stood, a ridiculous picture of Grimmjow's face took its place.  
"So you can drool over me even when I'm not there."

Half an hour later, after eating breakfast, Nel took out her phone and texted Orihime while waiting for Grimmjow to shower.  
'Hey, girlie, I'm so sorry for making everyone so worried yesterday. My phone was off and I was just trying to forget my argument with Tatsuki so I didn't remember my phone at all. I apologize for all this'  
Her phone buzzed, and an email notification informed her that the shop her car was in had finished their repairs.  
"Hey, ready to go?"  
Grimmjow appeared from the corridor, tucking a green dress shirt into brown pants. Nel looked back to her messages, trying to get the image of a shirtless Grimmjow out of her head.  
"Y-Yeah." She stood. "Why so formal?"  
"I have a meeting in an hour or so, and I was just gonna drop you off and go straight there after," he told her.  
"Oh. Well you don't have to drop me off at the University. I just got an email that my car is finished with repairs," she announced.  
"Oh, alright. I'll drop you off there, then."  
He made way out of the dining room.  
"You're not gonna eat? Breakfast is the most important meal of the day," she sang. Grimmjow rolled his eyes.  
"Yeah, yeah, you health freak," he teased, "I'll stop at Dunkin' Donuts or something."  
Nel's words out of the house scolded Grimmjow for his unhealthy choice and his terrible eating lifestyle.  
On the way, she made small talk.  
"Is your meeting around the car shop area?"  
"It's on that side of town, and it's closer to the shop than to USS so yeah, I guess."  
"How far of a drive from the shop?"  
"Like, maybe twenty minutes," he replied, switching lanes on the highway.  
"So you're not gonna be late?"  
"Neliel, I'll be fine," he reassured with a smile.  
"Even with Dunkin' Donuts?"  
"Yes."  
Grimmjow exited the interstate and, after Nel directing the way to the car shop, they arrived five minutes later. He pulled into a parking space and cut the engine.  
"Grimmjow, thanks for everything, really," Nel spoke, turning to him.  
"Nel, it's fine," he told her. "I actually... um, are you busy tonight? Because, a couple of people I do stocks with and I, we were invited to a market party... um, would you like to come with me?" he asked.  
Nel answered by reaching over and kissing him softly on his lips.  
"I'd love to," she replied. He smiled.  
"Great, if I get you at quarter to 8 is that okay?"  
"Y-yeah," Nel confirmed, reaching for the door.  
"I'll text you when I get to the University."  
Nel frowned.  
"I don't even have your number," she commented.  
"You've had it since... 7:30 this morning," he informed her. Her eyes widened, then narrowed.  
"You are so... mmm. Bye." She opened the car door and stepped out. He laughed.  
"Quarter to 8 tonight!"  
She slammed his door, then looked at him and grinned. He flashed a smile, then reversed out of the parking space and out of the repair shop's property.  
"I can't believe I fell for my teacher."

#*#*#

"Are you serious? How could you keep this from me?" Tatsuki asked incredulously.  
"I'm sorry, I didn't know how to go about it."  
"How could you not know? I've probably asked you a million times and every single time, you've had the chance to tell me! Whatever. I'm not arguing with you now," she replied. "So Nnoitra Jiruga is a trafficker? And all those times you slept over at my house, it wasn't just because you liked staying over a lot, it was because you had nowhere else to go." Tatsuki sighed. "Oh, Nel, I'm so sorry for all this."  
"It's okay, having more people to share this with makes it easier," Nel admitted.  
"More people? Who did you tell before your bestest friend ever?" she jokingly asked. Nel laughed.  
"Well, you are not gonna believe this, but um, I told Gri–Mr. Jaegerjaquez before you," she confessed.  
"WHAT?!"

After Nel filled Tatsuki in on where she was last night and everything that happened, she asked her for help for tonight.  
"I have no idea what to wear or anything!" she exclaimed.  
"Don't worry about a thing," Tatsuki reassured. "I know exactly what to do."

By twelve noon, Tatsuki and Nel had literally been everywhere; the black-haired woman had told her that this was practically a date, even if other people were attending, and so she should go all out in getting ready for it.  
Neliel bought a maroon, deep red sheath dress that hugged her curves yet gave her body space to breathe. Paired with black platformed pumps and black jewelry, even Tatsuki had to admit the outfit was going to look great. Nel went to Professor Hisagi's class following the mall outing.  
After a nail visit and an eyebrow touch up later in the afternoon—all on Tatsuki—Nel sat in their shared swivel computer chair, watching one, two, three sections of freshly flat ironed hair fall past her shoulders and down to her waist, as her best friend patiently straightened her long hair.  
"You're gonna look so great," Tatsuki complimented, dropping another warm section of hair against her body. She giggled.  
"Thanks for helping me out, Tatsuki," she voiced, playing with the finished strands of her hair.  
"No problem. You need to have a good time. Especially as you're recovering from this Jiruga thing," she expressed.  
"Yeah, I know."  
When Tatsuki finished her hair, she asked for it to be pulled back into a high ponytail.  
"Really? It looks so nice down," she offered.  
"Nah, I don't want it in my face."  
"Well... okay..."  
Tatsuki brushed Neliel's hair into the ponytail she'd requested.  
"My rule is always that the first date you go with your own separate transportation, so if it's bad, you just hop in your car and leave or call your friend up or hit up a taxi or something. But since you need to appear with him, I guess he has to take you. But here."  
Tatsuki handed Nel a bobby pin with a black nickel sized button on the closed end.  
"The button dials me and notifies me when you press it. You know, in case you get into a fight with him or something."  
"Tatsuki, that's not gonna happen," Nel said with a smile, pulling out her makeup palette.  
"I don't care if you're going on a date with _Lisa_, you're taking this. And I've never trusted Jaegerjaquez. And I'm not losing you like I did yesterday. And—"  
"Alright, alright!" Nel agreed, laughing. "I'll pin my bangs back with it."  
"I have a falsie to make it even."  
"I'll need it. Who made this for you anyway?"  
"Nemu. She's great with this stuff. It's actually something she's currently experimenting with."  
Nel looked at the pair of bobby pins in her hands.  
"You know, this will only work if you actually pick up your phone, Tatsuki," Nel grinned.  
"Shut up, that's what I plan on doing!"

With five minutes left to spare, Tatsuki briefed Nel.  
"Don't drink a lot. I really don't trust him—"  
"Tatsuki!"  
"Listen to me! Please. I mean, you don't really drink much anyway but I'm just putting it out there. The second things go wrong, either manually text me or hit the pins. And both pins please; don't try to guess which one is real or fake! If the place is far from the university area, tell me so I know what to expect. Don't let him hurt you," Tatsuki commanded. "Don't let anyone hurt you. You're not submissive or weak. My God, the day Jaegerjaquez tries to play on that—"  
Nel's buzzed on the counter. She picked it up. Grimmjow's goofy grin from this morning accompanied his contact as his message appeared on the screen.  
'Hey, I'm here'  
She stood up.  
"Remember you look gorgeous, Neliel. Act like it. These are stock jocks, don't let them intimidate you."  
She immediately turned and hugged her best friend.  
"Thanks for everything, Tatsuki, I promise you I'll be fine, okay?"  
Tatsuki sighed.  
"Okay."

Grimmjow was outside his convertible Infiniti IPL G, leaning slightly against the black polished hood. He hardly took this beauty out, but he figured it was necessary for the event... and for her.  
She came out of the doors then, and literally took his breath away. Never in his life had he seen someone so beautiful. She smiled as she neared him, fiddling with her phone in her hands.  
"Hi," she whispered. He grinned.  
"Hey. Don't you look amazing tonight," he complimented, walking over to the passenger's door and opening it. She flashed him a genuine smile. "Thank you."  
When she was settled in her seat, he softly shut her door and made way over to the driver's door. Once inside, he powered the sports car and in a minute they were heading away from the university.  
"So I don't look too dressed up or underdressed or anything?" she asked.  
"No, Nel you look great, you really do. Thanks for coming."  
She laughed, a contagious melody.  
"Thanks for having me."  
"I want to apologize in advance for my friends, colleagues, and partners who look twenty five but are still mentally twelve... if anyone bothers you too much, just let me know, alright?"  
Nel giggled. "Okay."  
They arrived twenty minutes later at a large building downtown. Grimmjow pulled up to the loading and unloading zone and rolled down Nel's window. A young man came running up to the car.  
"Valet, sir?"  
"Yes. Thank you."  
"My pleasure."  
As Grimmjow got out of the car, the valet man opened Neliel's door.  
"Are you ready?" Grimmjow smiled at her, walking up to the green haired beauty. He held out his arm for her. She linked her own with his and returned his smile.  
"Yeah."

#*#*#

"This is DiRoy Linker; we've invested in a couple successful businesses together. And this is Neliel, I invited her to come see just how successful I am," Grimmjow smirked. She shoved him playfully.  
"Will you be quiet?" she hissed, smiling. "It's nice to meet you, DiRoy." She shook his hand.  
"Likewise," he replied.  
Nel left the two of them to catch up with each other, and when Grimmjow caught up with her again, five minutes later, she had a drink in her hands. He took it from her and took a well sized gulp.  
"God, I hate these things," he remarked. "They're a waste of time."  
"It's not that bad, especially since you're just here to flaunt your power," Nel commented, rolling her eyes with a smile. His arm snaked around her waist.  
"You're right," he confessed. "It's what I do best."  
"Can you hold my phone?" she asked, "and not go through it?" she added quickly, humor laced in her tone. "I'm going to the Ladies' Room."  
"Okay."  
Neliel slid the black electronic into his free hand and walked off in search for the bathroom.  
Someone whistled.  
"Damn, is this why we haven't seen you in months, Grimmjow?"  
He sighed.  
"Ylfordt." He looked at his accompaniment. "Nakeem."  
"It's been a while, Grimmjow," Nakeem greeted. "How's life treating you?"  
"Pretty good, thanks. Yourself?"  
Nakeem shrugged. "It comes and it goes." Grimmjow nodded.  
"This place is outrageous," Ylfordt complained. "I'm trying to negotiate with some people and everyone's so indecisive. What a bore."  
"That's because everyone knows how terrible you are," Nakeem shot.  
"I am not! Every company that I've put my money into is on the rise!"  
Grimmjow listened to his friends bicker for five minutes… and then realized Nel hadn't come back.  
_'Chill,' _he told himself. _'It's only been a couple minutes.'_  
But then a couple minutes turned into a lot of minutes. And after twenty, he walked out of the party hall and started looking for the bathrooms.  
_'Maybe she got lost,' _he suggested. _'That's something she'd do.'_  
But the bathrooms weren't far from the hall. Signs directed to the nearest restroom at every corner. Someone would have to be blind to miss them.  
He reached the bathrooms and waited outside, thinking she'd come out at any second. She wouldn't just leave; he had her phone still.  
A brown-haired woman walked out from the restroom then, and Grimmjow had had it.  
"Excuse me, is anyone else in that bathroom?"  
The woman spun on her heels and went back inside to check. She came out a couple seconds later.  
"No, sir, it's completely empty."


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Y'all are soooo lucky. So very lucky. Lol. I'm usually the author who just leaves her readers hanging, and I struggled through this week and made a chapter just for y'all. I wanna say it's still T, but like, idk I'll just throw a warning out on here. Now I can't guarantee the next one; my flight is Tuesday, so I hope to get most of it done on the flight and layover times, but I'm pretty lazy, so we'll see lol. Um, if any of you know a way I can upload Nel's dress picture on here or something (for anyone who needs a visual), review, hit me up, Idk just show me how, and I'll send it/post it. Lastly thanks for sticking around for the story, it's almost finished! This will be the first time I've finished a multi-chapter story, can you believe it?! Just shows how incompetent I can be, lol. -_-**

* * *

_Empty?!  
_No way.  
"I see. Thank you," Grimmjow murmured in appreciation. The woman nodded and walked away.  
His brows turned into a scowl.  
She didn't run from him, he was sure of it. That girl was pretty easy to read, and he'd have known if she wasn't having a good time. And she purposely left her phone in his hands; she couldn't have been trying to contact anyone.  
Grimmjow stared hard at the black device in his hands. He hit a button and the screen lit up, his face present. The corners of his mouth upturned into a smirk.  
_'I knew she'd keep it.'  
_Suddenly the phone vibrated with a new text from Tatsuki Arisawa.  
_'Oh, the insane chick,' _he thought from this morning. He opened the text, her phone having no lock or code.  
'What's wrong? Tell me where you are so I can get you'  
What?  
Did she text Tatsuki to come get her on someone else's phone?  
He gazed at the phone, utterly confused. What was going on?  
He hit the call button. He was gonna get answers _now._  
Tatsuki answered on the first ring.  
"Oh my God, Neliel! Are you alright? Where are you so that I can come pick you up? What happened? Is he—"  
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but Neliel's not available. This is Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez," he informed the woman on the other end.  
"What the hell did you do with her?! Where is she?!" Tatsuki barked angrily. "I don't mind showing up and kicking your—"  
"Please. I didn't do anything with her. In fact, I held her phone while she went to the restroom. I was actually hoping you'd know where she is, seeing that you were gonna snatch her up a few minutes ago," he spat accusingly.  
"What?!" she retorted. "So you guys aren't fighting or arguing or anything?"  
"What the hell? No," he declared.  
"Then it was a false alarm?" she mused. A low growl erupted from Grimmjow's throat.  
"Can you please tell me what is going on?! What is a false alarm?!"  
Tatsuki filled Grimmjow in on Nel's bobby pins, informing him its purpose was to be a security measure to prevent him from hurting her. He snorted. How outrageous.  
"So my phone notified me that she hit the pins, and so I wanted to know her location so I could take her home. But if she's not in danger with you, and she hit the pins…"  
"Then she's in danger with someone else," Grimmjow finished. "Oi, uh, Tatsuki, is tracing the pins possible?"  
"I'll have to contact the person who made them. But that should be done in ten minutes, tops."  
"Good. Do that immediately. Then I need you to show up downtown, with Nel's current location. Call back when everything is settled."  
"You got it." She hung up. Grimmjow ground his teeth, livid. He fished out his own cell phone and speed dialed a contact.  
"Hello?" the receiver picked up instantly.  
"Halibel, he got her."  
"I'm on my way."

Tatsuki panted, out of breath, as Nemu's computer worked. The tracker was loading, trying to pinpoint where its bobby pin device was located. She had ran as fast as she could to Nemu's dorm room, and asked the technology whiz to find where Neliel was. Now they were seated in front of the computer, seconds ticking by painfully. Suddenly, it beeped.  
"500 East Avenue," Nemu announced. "It's an abandoned warehouse."  
"Was an abandoned warehouse. Thanks Nemu," Tatsuki voiced.  
"Good luck. I hope Neliel is alright."  
"Me too. See you later."  
Once outside Nemu's dorm she dialed Nel's phone again.  
"You got it?" the male voice answered.  
"Of course. Where am I headed?"  
"Michiko Building, named after the street. It's a twenty minute drive if you obey speed limits. In the loading zone, you will see idling a red Mazda. I will need you to valet your car and immediately enter the Mazda."  
Tatsuki was already driving out of the university campus, going almost double the speed limit.  
"Say, uh, Mr. Jaegerjaquez," Tatsuki began, "is this… is this about Nnoitra Jiruga?"  
The line was silent for a few seconds.  
"I'm pretty damn sure it is."  
"I see. I'll be there in ten."  
"Ah."

"Well, well, well… it's been a while, hasn't it, Neliel?"  
Nnoitra Jiruga's eyes beamed at the sight of the bound woman, shaking and trembling in fear. He strolled over to her crouched form on the floor. Squatting in front of her, the grinning man placed his finger underneath her chin, lifting her head.  
"My, you look completely… appetizing tonight," he flashed a frightening smile. His hand went to the black elastic in her hair as he slowly and gently dragged it out. "Surely you must agree you look much more appealing with your hair down, no?"  
Neliel stayed silent, too distressed to speak. She closed her eyes, terrified. Her wrists were raw from struggling with her kidnapper and they burned when agitated by the rope currently binding them. Her muscles ached from being on overdrive, trying to desperately pull away. And with every frenzied beat of her heart her temples throbbed, a continuous series of pulses, bringing about a painful headache from stress. Nnoitra laughed, a dreadful sound to her ears. She cringed.  
"So I guess you probably figured out by now that you've consumed as much drugs as you've consumed water. You don't remember a single thing."  
At lightning speed, Nnoitra drove his foot into Neliel's side. She screamed as she connected with the wall a good distance from where she had been.  
"At first, I thought it was better that way. You never struggled, and it was so easy to get away with everything, you know?" he mused, a deadly glint in his eyes. In a split second, he hauled the woman to her feet and slammed her body against the wall, his fingers wrapped around her delicate neck.  
"But, then I thought… what fun is it if you don't remember the shame? The humiliation? The pain? That's what truly makes this entertaining."  
As he let go of her neck Nnoitra's free hand connected instantly with the side of her face, sending her stumbling to his left, crying out in anguish. He swiftly grabbed her face, squeezing her cheeks in his grasp.  
"So this time, there won't be that escape for you. I'll make you commit this to memory and never forget it." He grabbed a chunk of her pin-straight locks. I will break you, and you'll cry… and scream… and beg…" With every emphasized word, he pulled on her green hair brutally. She stifled a shriek, her headache growing.  
"But first," Nnoitra said, and immediately loosened his hold on the woman and she slumped, "I want to apologize for ruining your night," he mocked. Neliel picked her head up, and locked eyes with Nnoitra, a tired, drained expression on her face.  
"I don't understand why you must afflict me," she whispered, ignoring him. He raised a brow. Then he laughed.  
"You don't understand, huh?" he repeated. A hand grabbed her arm and she was tossed into the center of the room without so much as a struggle. She painfully rolled over and shifted onto her knees, her tied hands preventing her from pitching forward. Nnoitra walked over to her quivering form. Her hair was suddenly being pulled, and she raised her head naturally. The terrifying man looked down proudly into her hysterical gaze.  
"You don't need to understand!" he shouted, raising his voice as he kicked her viciously in her stomach. Her eyes went wide in agony as she wheezed, coughing. Nnoitra smiled at her panting form, her face twisted into a grimace.

Halibel Tia's iron grip on the steering wheel did nothing to alleviate her building anxiety. With Grimmjow eerily silent next to her and Tatsuki in the back calling out directions, the car's tension was definitely thickening. The gas pedal was becoming real acquainted with the floor of the Mazda. Halibel's head thumped at the memory of just minutes earlier, before Tatsuki arrived.  
_Halibel exited her car. The Valet man must've been utterly confused when she walked right past him to Grimmjow, waiting anxiously outside for her. Without so much of a warning, she smacked the blue haired man in his face.  
"You incompetent piece of filth," she growled. When she tried to get at his face again, he grasped her wrists with a warning look on his face.  
"You can't do anything right. This one, simple request… just one!" she cried. "But you're such a fool…"  
He watched her intently, her face conflicting between anger and hurt. And that's when he saw a tear and understood that the latter had won.  
Grimmjow didn't know whether he should feel stunned at the fact that Halibel, of all people, was crying, or honored and privileged at the fact that he had the opportunity to witness this side of her. She shook, her hands trembling in his own, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around the woman. At the gesture, her sobs became more vocal as she tightened her hold on him.  
"Shh, everything's gonna be fine," he promised.  
"Grimmjow, how could you let him…? Why would you bring her to this place if he was here?"  
"He wasn't. I made sure of it… I checked the invitations list and the guest list. I even thought keeping an eye on her would be much easier with her here with me… but he just, I don't know." Grimmjow sighed as he released Halibel from the embrace. She swiped at her face, cleaning tears.  
"How did he even get her?!" she protested. "What happened?"  
"She went to the bathroom and that was it," he spoke. Halibel stared at him with a blank expression, then turned away.  
"Do you have a plan?" she asked, composing herself once again. He sighed.  
"Tatsuki Arisawa should arrive in ten minutes. She'll have directions to the place, and I guess we'll just bust in and take her back."  
_Halibel blinked to clear the memory. She couldn't believe she'd cried in front of someone… but it had just been too much. Subconsciously the gas pedal descended further.  
She was going to make Nnoitra pay.

Neliel learned that the less Nnoitra talked, the more torture came about. Fresh bruises littered her pale skin, even under the new dress she was wearing, that was now showing signs of damage. Her face ached and she could feel the side of her head swelling. Everywhere hurt. She was pretty sure the mascara on her eyelashes cascaded freely from her eyes, shut with silent tears.  
Those bobby pins…  
She'd clicked them. She'd clicked them both. Tatsuki should figure out, right? She wasn't stupid.  
"Ah, I'm getting so tired of this," he hummed. "Hitting you is no fun. Let's find other ways to make you scream."  
From her corner of the dimly lit empty room, Nel's eyes flew wide with panic.  
_No…  
_"Please, don't… _please,_" she found herself begging, swallowing her pride.  
"Oh?" He stopped in his tracks. "This is the first verbal opposition I've heard from you…"  
Neliel watched him continue to her bruised form leaning against the wall for support. Nnoitra broke out into a wide smile, as he brushed a tear from her cheek. He leaned in, his lips at her ear, his breath tickling her neck and sending a shiver down her spine. She cringed away from him.  
"Relax, this will be fun…" he promised. Then he laughed, sweeping green locks behind her ear. "At least for one of us!"  
The man flattened Neliel's body against the wall with his own and took her lips with his own. It was like her body woke up. She thrashed, squirmed, shoved… but Nnoitra's lanky body was deceiving. His hands went everywhere, leaving her head in a sickly daze.  
"Get your filthy hands off of her!"  
Her eyes met with the familiar cobalt blue-eyed man. She visibly relaxed.  
"Ah, well, if it isn't Mr. Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez," Nnoitra said with disinterest, his gaze apathetic. "I figured you'd show up."  
Nel's eyes went wide as she observed an enormous man she couldn't identify appear from the shadows behind him with a club. Without a sound, the man swung.


End file.
